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CONTINENTAL 



SKETCHES 



Distinguished Pennsylvania's. 



BY • r -- 

DAVID R. B: NEVIN. 



WITH AN APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING IMPORTANT STATE PAPERS, 

AND VALUABLE STATISTICAL AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION, 
SELECTED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES. 

PHILADELPHIA: 

PORTER & COATES, 822 CHESTNUT STREET. 
1875- 









1 
1 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 

DAVID R. B. NEVIN, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFATORY. 



ON the threshold of our Centennial festivities 
while the air is redolent with the rich aroma 
of cherished memories and pure resolves, we proffer 
no apology for giving to the world brief but truthful 
sketches of distinguished Pennsjlvanians, whose 
wisdom in council, and valor in battle, contributed 
so much to the triumph of the national arms, in the 
grand old days of the Revolution. The galaxy of 
greatness developed in that historic period borrowed 
much of its splendor from our own local firmament, 
and the names of Franklin, Wayne, and Morris, 
stanch exponents of philosophy, valor, and finance, 
have always been recognized as among its brightest 
stars. A plain, unadorned recital of the virtues of 
such an ancestry cannot fail to impart a useful moral, 
and stimulate a noble ambition to emulate those 
heroic traits of which they were the bold, expressive 
type. Aside from our natural personal obligations 
to cherish their memories on the basis of gratitude 
and consanguinity, a closer scrutiny of their motives. 



4 Prefatory. 

and a more acute analysis of their actions, cannot 
fail to elicit onr most enthusiastic commendation. 
Amid a cloudy atmosphere of doubt and danger, 
they exhibited a blended patience and fortitude al- 
most peerless in the annals of history. Their mil- 
itary prowess seemed whetted by adversity, and the 
bright sunshine of long delayed victory culminated 
in the development of a profound and exalted states- 
manship. 

The spirit that animated, and the ambition that 
spurred them, were neither restricted nor central- 
ized, but as limitless and elastic as the mountain air, 
permeating the length and breadth of their colonial 
area, flourishing as generously amid the hills and 
glens of the interior as beneath the sacred shadows 
of Independence Hall in their own loyal metropolis. 
There was a simplicity, purity, dignity, and positive 
culture, about these colonial heroes worthy our strict- 
est emulation, and the life of each was a compen- 
dium of penury, peril, and heroic sacrifice; his ma- 
terial and moral victories being achieved on battle 
fields well studded with monuments of private grief 
and personal ruin. The primitive legislation of col- 
onial Pennsylvania, though eminently cautious and 
conservative, was firm and prudent. It was not of 
the Vesuvian order, belching forth an indiscriminate 



Prefatory. 5 

volume of patriotic lava ; but, like the waters of her 
own majestic Delaware, its fountains were pure, its 
channels deep, and its progress irresistible. Its clear, 
straight, manly denunciation of Ministerial despotism 
was only awarded when public wrongs or private 
grievances were clearly ascertained and distinctly 
specified. That cautious legislation which at the 
incipiency of the Revolution was condemned by 
many as too tardy for an imminent crisis, asserted 
itself at the proper time in a proud and lofty vindi- 
cation of colonial honor, and a happy avoidance of 
flagrant blunders, humiliating rescindings, and un- 
manly compromises. Our general government has 
passed through the Revolutionary, the Confederate, 
and the Constitutional forms. The first extended 
from the meeting of the first Continental Congress, 
March 5, 1774, to the final ratification of the Arti- 
cles of Confederation, March 1, 1781. 

The second extended from the ratification of the 
Articles of Confederation, to the time the Constitu- 
tion went into operation, March 4, 1789. 

The third is that form which has existed from 
the latter period to the present time. 

The Revolutionary and Confederate forms, ex- 
tending from 1774 to 1789, were eminently fruitful 
in the production of great men, and to that period 



6 Prefatory. 

we will more particularly, though not exclusively, 
confine our selections. 

Their lives have survived the criticisms of a cen- 
tury, their memories are deeply imbedded in the 
national heart, and a reproduction of their virtues 
we trust will be acceptable to their worthy descend- 
ants throughout the stanch old Commonwealth for 
which they did so much. 

For the historical and statistical matter contained 
in the Appendix, we acknowledge our indebtedness, 
to, more particularly. Hazard's Archives of Penn- 
sylvania, the American Archives, Hazard's Eegis- 
ter and Proud's History of Pennsylvania. 



1 



CONTIiNENTAL SKETCHES. 



ROBERT MORRIS, OF PHIL'A. 



Incidents and Developments in the life of the Great 
Financier of the Revolution — From the school to the 
counting-house — Schemes and theories conceived and 
executed luith wonderfid celerity and dash — The de- 
liberate hut cheerful sacrifice when the crisis in our 
history came — A hard knot untied. 

THE great financier of the Eevolution, who un- 
doubtedly contributed more to its successful 
termination than any civilian of that historic period, 
was a lifelong resident, but not a native, of Philadel- 
phia. Eobert Morris was born in Lancashire, Eng- 
land, in 1733, and removed to this country at the early 
age of thirteen. His father was a Liverpool merchant, 
largely engaged in the American trade, a gentleman 
of strict integrity, and active, progressive business 
habits and tastes. The captain of a vessel con- 
signed to him, on its arrival fired what was intended 
as a complimentary salute to Mr. Morris, but the 
gun-wad unfortunately struck that gentleman, pro- 
ducing so serious a wound as to terminate his life 
in a few days thereafter. Young Morris, immedi- 



8 Continental Sketches. 

atelj on his arrival here, was placed at one of the 
best schools in Philadelphia, but, for some inexpli- 
cable reason, his scholastic career was not remark- 
able. At fifteen he was withdrawn from aca- 
demic walls and inducted into the commercial office 
of Mr. Charles Willing, at that time one of the lead- 
ing merchants of Philadelphia. He served what 
was then termed a regular apprenticeship with that 
gentleman for two years — for in those days commer- 
cial as well as literary educations were more thor- 
ough and complete than now, and only attainable by 
much labor and system. Keady-made merchants 
were as rarely heard of at that time as ready-made 
lawyers, and the solid foundations thus cautiously 
prepared were generally surmounted by worthy and 
honorable superstructures. Mr. Morris had the ad- 
vantage of superior culture and training, for his pre- 
ceptor, Charles Willing, as we have intimated, was 
an honor to the mercantile profession, and remarka- 
ble for the scope, vigor, and forecast of his under- 
standing, his great executive ability, unblemished 
integrity, and the amenity of his disposition and 
manners. In such a school, with such an instructor, 
the young commercial aspirant made great headway, 
and in a few years formed intimate business relations 
with Mr. Thomas WilHng, the son of his esteemed 
patron, and for forty years the old firm of Willing 
& Morris was recognized in commercial circles as 
one of the most trustworthy and reliable in the city 
of Philadelphia. This firm was amicably dissolved 



EOBEET MOERIS. 9 

in 1798, and Thomas Willing, the senior member, a 
high-toned, christian gentleman, died in 1821, aged 
89 years. Bereft of parental connsel, the early life 
of Mr. Morris makes a glowing exhibit of fidelity, 
executive ability, self-reliance, and expansive ideas. 
His whole life, from early childhood to venerable 
old age, is dotted with incidents and developments 
indicating great breadth of thought in everything 
pertaining to ^nance. Schemes and theories of his, 
before which the ordinary mind would quail with 
nervous fear, were conceived and executed by him 
with wonderful celerity and dash, sometimes evok- 
ing from him heavy personal sacrifices to carry his 
point. Some minds have a sufficiency of nerve and 
daring to attempt the tunneling of the Andes, 
whilst others, cast in a more cautious mould, shrink 
from the perforation of a molehill. 

Robert Morris watched with an intelligent and 
anxious eye the encroachments of the British gov- 
ernment upon the liberties of his countrymen, and, 
although his private interests might suffer, he never 
shrank from honest protest and vigorous action in 
her defence, when duty made the demand. His firm 
was the largest importing one, perhaps, in Philadel- 
phia; yet in 1765, when the crisis seemed to render 
it necessary, he cheerfully signed the non-importa- 
tion agreement entered into by his fellow-merchants, 
although he sustained very heavy private losses by 
the act. The sacrifice was a deliberate but cheer- 
ful one ; yet he allowed no selfish consideration to 
1* 



10 . Continental Sketches. 

clog the path of honorable duty. There is a moral 
grandeur in the performance of any conscientious 
duty, doubly itensified when the act conflicts with 
private interests, draining your depleted treasury, 
and severing perhaps the friendships of a lifetime. 

The battle of Lexington was fought April, 1775, 
and the news reached Philadelphia in four days, 
which at that time was considered a remarkably 
speedy transmittal. It produced a thrilling sensa- 
tion throughout the whole land, particularly in 
Philadelphia. Mr. Morris, when the news reached 
the city, was one of a large number of gentlemen 
assembled at the famous old "City Tavern" to cele- 
brate St. George's day. Immediately after the re- 
ception of the news the groaning, hospitable tables 
were all deserted, and the patron saint was soon for- 
gotten in the eager and restless anxiety to hear the 
news from Lexington. From that moment Mr. Mor- 
ris was in favor of a quick and final separation from 
the mother country, and, during the balance of his 
life did all he could to effect that object. On the 
3d of November, 1775, he was elected by the Legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania a delegate to the second Con- 
gress that met in Philadelphia. A short time there- 
after he was appointed on a secret committee author- 
ized by the preceding Congress, whose duty it was 
"to contract for the importation of arms, ammuni- 
tion, sulphur and saltpetre, and to export produce on 
the public account to pay for the same." His rec- 
ognized business capacity, the celerity of his actions, 



KoBEKT Morris. 11 

and his almost inexhaastible creative power, made 
his presence indispensable on all important commit- 
tees where finance and revenue were considered. 
He was well and favorably acquainted with every 
business man and firm in Philadelphia, and availed 
himself of this fact to borrow money on his own 
personal responsibility whenever the stringent exi- 
gencies of the Government required assistance. This 
he did very frequently, and was always prompt and 
punctual in the re-payment of all personal loans thus 
negotiated. When Congress, in December, 1776, was 
unfortunately compelled to retire from Philadelphia, 
owing to the approach of the British army, Mr. Mor- 
ris was one of a committee of three detailed to re- 
main and transact all Continental business. While 
engaged in this sphere, he received a sad letter from 
General Washington, in which he gave a vivid de- 
scription of the lamentable condition of the army, on 
account of their not being paid. Our forces were at 
that time located on the Delaware river, opposite 
Trenton. The General was anxious to make an 
offensive demonstration, and to do this required ten 
thousand dollars. He looked anxiously for relief to 
Mr. Morris as his last and only hope. He had made 
several similar applications to other parties, but in 
each instance had been disappointed. Mr. Morris, 
with deep feeling and emotion, read and re-read the 
letter from his beloved chieftain, but what to do he 
knew not. The sum desired, it was true, was small, 
but his own private exchequer was exhausted and 



12 Continental Sktchees. 

demoralized, and the men of means (and they were 
comparatively few in those days) had left the city. 
He pondered over the letter in his counting-room 
until weary, not knowing what to do or where to go 
for this comparatively trifling and yet essentially 
necessary sum. On his way home he met an old 
Quaker, with whom he had but a slight acquaint- 
ance, and who, in addition, was a practical, conscien- 
tious Peace man, opposed to all wars except against 
Satan, and that he desired to prosecute with nervous 
vigor. This was a hard knot to untie, but Morris, 
who had great tact and magnetic conversational 
powers attempted the discouraging task. To the 
inquiry of the Quaker as to the news of the day, 
Morris replied that he had but little, and that was 
very depressing. He then, in his own enthusiastic 
and attractive way, told him all the facts, and closed 
by showing him the autograph letter of Washington, 
and explaining the almost vital necessity of having 
ten thousand dollars at once. The honest Quaker 
faltered but a moment under fire of such guns, and 
replied composedly, " Friend Rohert^ thou slialt have 
W In one hour the money was transmitted to 
Washington's headquarters, and was indirectly in- 
strumental, under Providence, in gaining a signal 
victory over the Hessians at Trenton, thus changing 
the whole current of the war, animating the droop- 
ing spirits of the tattered, hungry, and penniless 
patriots, and correspondingly depressing the proud 
hopes and predictions of the arrogant foe. 



EoBEET MOEEIS. 13 

In 1779 the army was alarmingly destitute of all 
sorts of military stores and supplies, particularly 
lead. Old clock-weights, and all similar articles 
that could possibly be used for the purpose, were 
melted down for army use, but the supply could not 
be kept up in this crude and irregular way, and the 
crisis was becoming serious and startling. At this 
critical juncture one of Mr. Morris' privateers for- 
tunately arrived with a cargo of ninety tons of lead, 
one-half of which belonging to him personally he 
immediately forwarded to the army, and two days 
thereafter bought the balance with his own private 
means, and shipped it on the same patriotic errand. 
We might multiply instances of the genuine liber- 
ality and opportune tact of this great man, but will 
refer to but one more, which cannot be repeated too 
often, and which is eminently worthy the admiration 
and gratitude of every American citizen. 

In 1781 General Washington contemplated the 
capture of New York city. This was in accordance 
with an understanding between him and Count Eo- 
chambeau, and it was arranged that the French fleet 
under De Barras and De Grasse should co-operate 
with our land forces to secure the desired result. 
On the arrival of the fleet the whole plan was frus- 
trated by the announcement of the Admiral that he 
would not enter the bay of New York, but would 
harbor for a few weeks in Chesapeake Bay. The 
reduction of New York was not only rendered im- 
practicable, but actually impossible. It is very re- 



14 Continental Sketches. 

liable history that at this very critical moment 
Eobert Morris, of Philadelphia, suggested quietly to 
the commanding general the propriety of immedi- 
ately attacking Cornwallis in the South. It is also 
well known that this was the most brilliant military 
move of the campaign, and practically ended the 
whole war. However historiographers may differ as 
to the creative mind that developed this move, they 
cannot differ as to where the funds came from to 
prosecute that particular part of the campaign. 

Nearly every dollar and every war supply of that 
memorable campaign was a generous personal ad- 
vance based on the individual credit of Eobert Mor- 
ris. He furnished the army of General Washing- 
ton, at a time when victory was not by any means 
an assured fact, and the loan therefore proportion- 
ately more risky, with eighty siege guns, one hun- 
dred pieces of field artillery, with all necessary ammu- 
nition and other appurtenances, and within thirty 
days from his original interview with Washington 
all these supplies and artillery were in possession of 
the latter. This was astounding; but the whole 
has not been told. The entire army at this time 
was fed, clothed, and paid solely on the personal 
credit of this same Robert Morris, who actually is- 
sued his own promissory notes for the enormous 
sum of one million four hundred thousand dollars, 
every dime of which was promptly paid by him at 
maturity. All this was done without the slightest 



Egbert Morris. 15 

hope of profit or plunder, for the integrity of the 
great financier was above all suspicion. 

In 1781 he was unanimously appointed what was 
termed Superintendent of Finance. The duties of 
this office were multifarious and onerous, and, we 
may add, thankless. He had to examine the state 
of the public debt, expenditures and revenue, di- 
gest and report plans for improving and regulating 
the finances, and had also sole control of the man- 
agement and disbursement of all the foreign loans, 
national and individual, in France and Holland, pub- 
lic funds of every possible character, and the dis- 
bursement of the same for the support of every 
branch of the Grovernment, military, naval, and 
civil — in brief, all the moneyed operations of the 
country were under his control, and this, too, at a time 
when great distress prevailed in every section of 
the land, and public credit was a shattered wreck. 
The Treasury was two and a half millions in arrears, 
the creditors generally being illiberal and grasping, 
and unwilling to compromise for aught but cash. The 
paper bills of credit, floating loosely and promiscu- 
ously around the country, were almost entirely 
valueless, and soldier and citizen jointly suffered in 
the midst of this alarming distress. All this time 
the private notes of Morris were worth "their face," 
and constituted the principal medium for all large 
transactions. He worked with a will in his official 
position to bring public confidence to a wholesome 
standard, and gradually succeeded in bringing or- 



16 Continental Sketches. 

der, system and symmetry out of distrust, demoral- 
ization and chaos. He established the old Bank of 
North America, which was eminently instrumental 
in restoring public credit, encouraging public im- 
provements, and producing general and unbounded 
public confidence, the true panacea of all financial 
crises. 

Though many financiers may have had more 
brilliant administrations, producing, perhaps, more 
voluminous results, receiving the praise of servile 
dependents, echoed by a subsidized and partisan 
press, we fail to find, in the history of this country 
at least, a financier of such creative genius, bold de- 
sign, and fearless execution, as Eobert Morris of 
Pennsylvania. His Congressional career, like his 
private character, was "without spot or blemish." 
Whatever he did was always well done ; and as Co- 
lonial legislator, member of Congress and of the 
Constitutional Convention, no one ever exhibited 
more zeal and sacrificed more comfort and ease for 
the good of his country and his fellow- men. An 
unfortunate land speculation, however, shattered his 
private fortune in his latter days, and the brilliant 
financier of Colonial and Eevolutionary times was 
in his old days reduced to comparative poverty. 
Amidst all these severe trials and afflictions, he al- 
ways asserted his inherent manhood by a calm, dig- 
nified, and philosophic demeanor. Worn down with 
public labor and private misfortune, he died, May 
8, 1806, aged 78 years. 



BENJAMIN RUSH, OF PHILADELPHIA. 



His early studies at a Maryland Academy^ Princeton 
College^ and Edinhurgli University — Professor in 
the First Medical School ever organized in the Uni- 
ted States — The Onslaught hy Journalists^ Pamph- 
leteers^ and anonymous writers during the reign of 
the yellow fever in 1793, &c. 

IN the old township of Byberry, some fourteen 
miles northeast of Philadelphia, Dr. Benjamin 
Eusli was horn on the 24th of December, 1745, his 
ancestors having emigrated from England to that sec- 
tion of Pennsylvania about the year 1683. His 
father dying when he was six years old, his mother, 
a most estimable lady, with a keen appreciation of 
the inestimable advantages of a good education, de- 
termined to give her son the very best opportunity 
for its acquisition her limited means would allow. 
He was accordingly sent to a somewhat celebrated 
academy located at Nottingham, Md., at that time 
under the control and management of the venerable 
Eev. Dr. Finley, a ripe scholar and cultivated gentle- 
man, subsequently president of Princeton College. 
The residents of that section of Maryland were re- 
markable for their honest simplicity and correct 
morality, and this fact, coupled with the literary 

(17) 



18 Continental Sketches. 

tastes and solid merits of his pious and learned pre- 
ceptor, contributed no little to tlie formation of his 
early acquired good character. After a residence 
here of five years, where his moraj qualities were 
always abreast of his classical attainments, he entered 
Princeton College, as an advanced student, in 1759. 
Such was the completeness of his preparatory course 
at ISTottingham, that, although the youngest student 
in his class, in fact, a mere boy, he w^as the peer of 
any of his fellows in all his collegiate studies. He 
received his degree of A. B. in 1760, before he had 
reached his fifteenth year, perhaps the youngest 
graduate before or since of his venerable Alma 
Mater. Soon after the completion of his jcoUegiate 
course he enrolled himself as a student in the medi- 
cal office of the eminent Dr. Eedman, of Phila- 
delphia, and was one of Dr. Shippen's ten pupils 
who attended the first course of anatomical lectures 
ever given in this country. Gifted with an investi- 
gating mind he studied closely and assiduously, with 
a determination to learn, and in 1766 sailed for 
Edinburgh, where he resumed his studies for two 
years, receiving at the end of that time, 1768, his 
degree of M. D. from the University there. After 
spending a year in Continental travel, mingling with 
the most cultivated medical men in London and 
Paris, he returned to his native country and com- 
menced the practice of medicine in Philadelphia. 
At the very early age of twenty-four he was elected 
professor of chemistry in the college of Philadelphia, 



Benjamin Eush. 19 

and became, about the same time, a popular contri- 
butor to medical and general literature, his foreign 
residence and unwearied industry having materially 
enlarged his professional views and attainments. 
The present University of Pennsylvania was at that 
time in creative process, Drs. Shippen, Euhn, Bond, 
and Morgan, having for a year or two been deliver- 
ing lectures at irregular and uncertain intervals. 
The acquisition of young Eush completed the corps 
of professors of the first medical school ever or- 
ganized in the United States. Some fifteen years 
thereafter the primitive institution referred to was 
merged in the present University, and Dr. Eush, 
then recognized as one of the brilliant young phy- 
sicians of the country, held the position of professor 
of the institutes and practice, also of clinical practice, 
in the new combination which for almost a century 
has wielded such a power in medical circles, and 
quietly earned such an honorable reputation. With- 
out possessing any very marked oratorical powers, 
Dr. Eush was an interesting and popular lecturer. 
His language was simple and always intelligible, 
his scientific disquisitions profound, without being- 
drowsy and heavy, and his lectures abounded with 
pleasant and pointed anecdotes, and occasional bril- 
liant sallies of a somewhat poetic imagination. 

He was an eminently minute man, garnering care- 
fully every floating fact, theory, and incident, and 
treasuring them carefully for future utilization ; ab- 
sorbing everything, forgetting nothing. 



20 Continetnttal Sketches. 

In 1790, after a siiccessfal professional experience 
of twenty years, he gave to the public, in book form, 
his new principles of medicine. His views were con- 
fronted by strong opposition at the time of their pro- 
mulgation. He had great confidence in a free use 
of the lancet, and abiding faith in the power and 
utility of calomel, which he styled " the Samson of 
the Materia Medica." His opponents yielded to the 
Samsonian illustration, because, as they jocosely re- 
remarked, "it has slain its thousands." Modern 
science, although not entirely abandoning, has very 
greatly modified the use of these potential agencies, 
for which Dr. Eush so ably contended, and which, 
under his skillful control, were productive of such 
beneficent results. 

In 1793, Philadelphia was terribly scourged with 
the yellow fever. The city had been free from it 
for thirty- one years, but now it assumed the shape 
of a fearful epidemic, and swept over the town with 
the horrible celerity of a prairie fire, destroying 
everything it touched. It thus raged from July to 
November, averaging forty deaths daily, and aggre- 
gating some five thousand victims, a heavy propor - 
tion considering the population of Philadelphia at 
that time. The whole city was panic-stricken, for 
the swift-winged messenger of death bafiled all pro- 
fessional skill to subdue it, and the great metropolis 
was being rapidly transformed into a huge charnel 
house. During this fearful crisis Dr. Eush was mak - 
ing herculean efforts to subdue the deadly foe, work- 



Benjamin Eush. 21 

ing with a will during part of his time, and ap- 
propriating the balance to a thorough analysis of the 
desease from a scientific standpoint. He visited over 
one hundred and fifty patients a week, and saved 
many thousand lives by his original and judicious 
treatment. His special mode of treatment, success- 
ful as it was, was severely criticised by many dis- 
tinguished medical contemporaries and was produc- 
tive of great prejudice against him. Journalists, 
pamphleteers, and scurrilous anonymous writers 
hurled their fierce javelins at him with reckless 
malignity, until the discussion, originally based on 
questions of professional skill, degenerated into a 
petty, personal persecution. He was even stigma- 
tized as a murderer, and threatened with mobocratic 
expulsion from his native city. In this instance 
public sentiment assumed one of those peculiar roles 
not uncommon in history, invariably as unjust as 
they are inexplicable. 

As a penalty for his blood -circulation theory 
Harvey blunted his professional prospects, and was 
hooted as a common fool ; and Dr. Rush, by his bril- 
liant practice, productive of the most successful re- 
sults in saving human life, lost public confidence 
because he bravely wandered from the beaten path 
of official routine to subdue a pestilential foe which, 
until then, had never been vanquished. On the ter- 
mination of the fever a motion was made in a pub- 
lic meeting of the citizens to cordially thank the 
medical faculty of Philadelphia generally, and Dr. 



22 Continental Sketches. 

Benjamin Rush specially, for their eminent services 
during the epidemic, but no one in the vast audi- 
ence was bold enough to second it, and it failed. 
The noble survivors were grateful to Providence 
and their own strong constitutions for the general 
result, but were cautious aboat taking any addi- 
tional stock in the medical fraternity. Phil Frenan, 
the dashing, reckless editor of the New York Ad- 
vertiser^ who had acquired a national reputation by 
his pungent paragraphs and satirical verses, com- 
plained that the physicians had fled the city : 

On prancing steed, with sponge at nose, 
From town behold Sangrado fly ; 

Camphor and tar, where'er he goes, 
The infected shafts of death defy— 

Safe in an atmosphere of scents 

He leaves us to our own defence. 

William Cobbett, an intelligent EngHshman, re- 
siding in Philadelphia at the time, a popular politi- 
cal paniphleteer, flying the original nom de plume of 
" Peter Porcupine," was a man of bitter force and 
strength, and a consummate master of invective. 
He violently attacked Rush in one of his publica- 
tions, and was sued by the latter for libel, and 
made to pay $5,000 for his sport. This was one 
of the many assaults made upon Dr. Rush, but 
he survived them all, and built up and retained 
by all odds the largest practice in Philadelphia. A 
few years afterwards there was a re-actionary feel- 
ing in his favor by his receiving from the King of 
Prussia, in 1805, a gold medal for his replies to cer- 



Benjamin Rush. 23 

tain questions about the treatment of yellow fever. 
For the same consideration he received, in 1807, a 
medal from the Queen of Etruria, and in 1811 the 
Emperor of Russia gave him a brilliant diamond 
ring, through respect for his great medical fame. 

Dr. Rush was a voluminous and able writer, and 
one wonders how he could spare so much time from 
his laborious professional duties to assume the role 
of an essayist and a general writer on literary, 
moral, philosophical, and political subjects. One so- 
lution is that he was a most zealous, indefatigable 
worker, allowing no small fragments of time to be 
wasted. His writings consist principally of seven 
volumes, six of which are devoted to medical sub- 
jects, the remaining one being a compendium of 
various literary articles. His " Medical Inquiries 
and Observations," "Diseases of the Mind," " Medi- 
cal Tracts," " Health, Temperance, and Exercise," 
gave him a deservedly high reputation at home, and 
honorable recognition abroad. 

In the early part of his life Dr. Rush found suffi- 
cient leisure time to study politics, not with the 
circumscribed instincts of a selfish, sordid partisan, 
but as a good citizen, with an honest desire to assist 
in shaping the political* destinies of his coantry. 
In 1776 he was a member of the celebrated Con- 
gress that gave us an historic Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, to which he cheerfully and proudly gave 
his name and influence. In 1777 he was appointed 
physician-general of the militarj^ hospital in the 



24 Continental Sketches. 

Middle Department, and in 1787 was a member of 
the Pennsylvania Convention wliicli ratified tke 
Federal Constitution, but was not a member of the 
General Constitutional Convention, as has been er- 
roneously stated by some authorities. He did all 
he could do for its adoption, considering it " a mas- 
terpiece of human wisdom." In 1799, President 
Adams appointed him Treasurer of the United 
States Mint, solely on account of his faultless char- 
acter and sterling integrity, and which was en- 
tirely unsolicited on his part. The duties of this 
office he faithfully performed during the last four- 
teen years of his life. But few cities in Europe, 
and certainly none in this country, have such nu- 
merous and various charitable institutions as Phila- 
delphia. No one citizen contributed more to the 
successful organization of man}^ of these than Dr. 
Benjamin Kush. In 1785, he planned and organ- 
ized the Philadelphia Dispensary, the first institu- 
tion of the kind in the country. He was president 
of the Philadelphia Society for the Abohtion of 
Slavery, and also of the Philadelphia Medical 
Society. He was the founder of the Philadelphia 
Bible Society, and for many years one of its hon- 
ored presiding officers, and for several years was 
vice president of the celebrated American Philo- 
sophical Society. He was a strong, practical friend 
of the temperance cause, and his work entitled 
"An Inquiry into the Effect of Ardent Spirits 
upon the Human Body and Mind" is full of valu- 



Benjamin Kush. 25 

able information, and is considered standard au- 
thority among the friends of this particular reform- 
atory movement. He presented a thousand copies 
of this interesting tract to the General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church for general distribution 
among their members, evoking from them at the 
time a ^stronger resolution in favor of temperance 
than they have ever promulgated since. Dr. Rush 
was a public writer for forty-nine years, and was 
not a mere collator of other men's opinions, but an 
original, honest searcher after truth, combining util- 
ity and elegance in all his essays on physical science 
or polite literature. He was, moreover, a high- 
toned. Christian gentleman, and the sneers and fasci- 
nations of what are termed fashionable circles were 
powerless to divert him from the path of honest 
and honorable rectitude. His private life was one 
of unsullied purity, and his public career is unsur- 
passed for its many brilliant developments and prac- 
tical results for the common good of his country 
and his fellow men. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRINTER. 



The man in whose honor the Franklin Institute was 
named — A Boston and Philadelphia Statesman — 
The central figure of our local Continental wor- 
thies — A home portrait of the Editor- Statesman of 
1776. 

THE Pennsylvania signers to the Declaration of 
Independence were Kobert Morris, Benjamin 
Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clj- 
mer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, 
and George Ross. The signers to the Constitution 
were Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Thomas 
Fitzsimmons, James Wilson, Thomas Mifflin, George 
Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, and Gouvernenr Morris. It 
will be observed that several of the original signers 
of the Declaration were leading members of the 
Constitutional Convention, and remembered that a 
majority of them were active participants in our 
Continental Congress. The average intellectuality 
of the convention was high, and, happily, very 
equally distributed, so far as latitude was concerned. 
Even in those primitive times there was consider- 
able sectional feeling, and it required consummate 
tact and diplomacy to reconcile and harmonize these 
antagonisms. The Cavaliers of the South, as they 

(26) 



Benjamin Franklin. 27 

were pleased to term themselves, were nobly repre- 
sented by Washington, " President and deputy from 
Yirginia, " Jas. Madison, from the same State, Rut- 
ledge, the two Pinckneys, and Pierce Butler, of 
South Carolina. The focus of New England's ad- 
miration was old Roger Sherman, a severe Puri- 
tan and an ardent patriot. New York was justly 
proud of the youthful, petite^ but graceful and elo- 
quent, Alexander Hamilton, while Pennsylvania's 
grand central figure was the grave and thoughtful 
old Ben Franklin. Indeed, as diplomat, scientist, 
philosopher, and patriot, he was a sort of paterfa- 
milias in the grand group of national celebrities. 
No shafts of envy were hurled at the veteran states- 
man, then in his eighty-first year; but his sugges- 
tions, theories, and opinions, had a wonderful influ- 
ence on his fellow-members. To sketch the civil 
heroes of our Colonial and Continental historj^, and 
make no mention of Franklin, even on the hypoth- 
esis that everybody knows all about him, would be 
a flagrant and palpable omission of Hamlet in the 
play. Although his name is a household word and 
his fame historically grand, it is a singular fact that 
no complete popular biography of this great man 
has ever been published. One rarely meets with 
his autobiography, save on the dusty shelves of 
some second-hand book store ; and Sparks' Life of 
Franklin is too voluminous and heavy for general 
currency and utility. As if to fill the vacancy, a 
compact three-volume Life of Franklin is, at the 



28 Continental Sketches. 

present writing, being issued from the press, edited 
by the Hon. John Bigelow, ex-minister to France. 
Frankhn was perhaps the best specimen, of what is 
usually termed a self-made man, e^er produced in 
this country. Men of this class are generally strong, 
but superficial, too often lacking culture and finish ; 
but he was just the reverse of this, profound in 
learning, with the natural simplicity of a little child, 
and possessed of highly polished personal manners. 
Franklin was a remarkably handsome man, with a 
commanding figure above the middle size, and was 
in his early days, quite an athlete, and famous for 
his physical strength and activity. His counte- 
nance indicated self-poise and serenity, great depth 
of thought, and inflexible resolution. He possessed 
captivating conversational powers, and could adapt 
these very felicitously to circumstances, either in 
the laboratory of the scientist or at the desk of a 
school boy. Although a philosopher, he was some- 
thing of a wag, and brimful of quaint good humor. 
When John Hancock appended his signature to the 
Declaration of Independence, in large, bold charac- 
ters, he remarked with an air of excusable bravado^ 
" There ! John* Bull can read my name without 
spectacles." A moment after, he turned to Franklin, 
and somewhat nervously suggested, " We must all 
hang together now." "Yes," responded the reso- 
lute old philosopher, "or most assuredly we will all 
hang separately," which was a good joke, and very 
true at the same time. 



Benjamin Franklin. 29 

Born in Boston, January 17, 1706, it is not sur- 
prising that at an early age lie soon wearied of the 
respectable, but not very intellectual, avocation of 
soap-boiler and chandler, a sphere which his practi- 
cal father had selected for him. In 1722 he landed 
in Philadelphia, being at that time but a mere boy. 
From that date until his death, April 17, 1790, he 
was most thoroughly identified with all the impor- 
tant interests and developments of his adopted State, 
and, solely through intrinsic merit, was the recipient 
from her of many civil and political honors. He was 
made successively Clerk of the Assembly (1736), 
Postmaster of Philadelphia (1737), and Deputy Post- 
master General for the British Colonies (1753). No 
young man in these days of zealous effort to win 
fame by short cuts and air-line routes, can fail to 
obtain much valuable information by studying close- 
ly the salient points in the character of this most 
remarkable man. Although a century has elapsed 
since he has passed away, an intelligent posterity 
cannot fail to mark the admirable and exquisitely 
adjusted features of his character, and the harmoni- 
ous and massive grandeur of his magnificent and 
finely -developed manhood. Penniless and footsore, 
at sixteen years of age he entered our city, and in 
a few brief years (1752), without any of the mod- 
ern manipulation and lobbying for titular distinc- 
tion, the Eoyal Society of London unanimously 
elected him a member of their dignified body, and 
bestowed upon him the Copley gold medal for his 



30 Continental Sketches. 

brilliant discovery of the identity of lightning with 
the electric fluid. In the interim of these eventful 
years, his failures and successes, his defeats and tri- 
umphs, form a consolidated volume of profound in- 
terest, more thrilling than the most popular romance 
of modern times. Whether you view him as editor 
of the Pennsylvania Gazette and "Poor Richard's 
Almanac ; " as mediator between the Assembly and 
the proprietary governments, compromising difficul- 
ties between them about taxation before the Privy 
Council of England; or, before the House of Com- 
mons, endeavoring to repeal the odious Stamp Act ; 
or, again, as ambassador at the court of France, 
adroitly securing the memorable treaty of alliance 
between that country and our own, so immense- 
ly favorable to us ; in all these varied spheres of 
poverty, honor and trust, we find astounding de- 
velopments of individuality and wisdom. Frank- 
lin's ancestral tree was not one of hot-house culture. 
His father was a plain, practical, poor man, from 
Northampton, England, a strict Puritan, and left his 
native soil during the reign of Charles II. to avoid 
the persecution raging there with fanatical zeal. He 
settled in Boston, and married a lady of respect- 
able family in that city. The parents determined 
to make a clergyman of Benjamin, nolens volens ; 
but slender resources, and, perhaps, lack of theolog- 
ical taste in the young man, changed their views, 
and he was withdrawn to assist his father in his 
business of tallow chandler. He soon became tired 



Benjamin Franklin. 31 

of this, for tlie business itself was not a congenial 
one, and, restless and uneasy, he longed for the deep 
blue sea — that El Dorado of so many romantic 
youths of fifteen who become tired of the despotism 
of home rule. Then he became taciturn and thought- 
ful, developing a wonderful taste for reading, de- 
vouring everything within his reach, "Plutarch's 
Lives," "Defoe's Essay on Projects," and every- 
thing else in his father's scanty library. At twelve 
we find him at the printer's desk; at fourteen, 
proficient in the mechanical part of his trade, and 
zealously perfecting himself in prose composition. 
"With great taste for learning, he imbibed a kin- 
dred one for disputation, and adopting the Socratic 
method, he became dextrous in confuting and con- 
founding an antagonist by a series of questions. In 
early life he was somewhat skeptical in religious 
matters, and propagated his peculiar tenets with 
more zeal, perhaps, than judgment, until he found 
he did much injury to his companions by this course, 
when he very prudently desisted. In his maturer 
years, however, according to his warm, personal 
friend. Dr. William Smith, he became a believer 
in Divine revelation. In his " Memoirs," written 
by himself, he says : " And here let me, with all 
humility, acknowledge that to Divine Providence I 
am indebted for all the happiness I have hitherto en- 
joyed. It is that power alone which has furnished 
me with the means I have employed and that has 
crowned them with success. My faith in this re- 



32 Continental Sketches. 

spect leads me to hope that the Divine goodness will 
still be exercised towards me. My future fortune is 
unknown but to Him in whose hand is our destiny." 
In this connection we insert the quaint epitaph 
written by himself long before his death : — 

The body of 

Benjamin Franklin, Printer, 

Like the cover of an old book, 

Its contents torn out 

And stript of its lettering and gilding, 

Lies here, food for worms. 

Yet the book itself shall not be lost. 

For it will (as he believed) appear once more, 

in a new 

and more beautiful edition, 

corrected and amended 

by the Author. 

The early life of Franklin, as we have seen, was 
obscured by dark clouds, and his pathway full of 
thorns. His parents were poor, and his father more 
particularly, unappreciative and unsympathetic ; his 
brother, to whom he was indentured as a printer's 
apprentice, harsh, parsimonious, and despotic ; his 
own means limited, and his health delicate. This 
was the atmosphere surrounding him, when at six- 
teen he sailed from Boston for New York, and failing 
to secure employment there, walked from the latter 
city to Philadelphia. On his arrival he had not a 
farthing, no counsellor, no acquaintance, no friend ; 
he had to start from the crude surface and build up. 
He wandered through our long, narrow streets, not 
a pauper, but a delicate, penniless youth, but one 



Benjamin Franklin. 33 

within whose bosom was a riveted determination to 
work and win. Space will not permit ns to enter 
into minute details of his career during the first few 
years of his life in Philadelphia. Sir William Keith, 
Governor of the Province, took stock in the young- 
printer, and suggested the propriety of his going to 
England to purchase printing material and supplies 
to start his new paper in Philadelphia. He sailed 
for London, and when he arrived there found that 
Sir William, upon whose letters of credit he had 
relied, had deceived him, and he was compelled to 
search for something to do to support himself in 
that mammoth city. In 1726 he returned to Phila- 
delphia and started his paper. In 1730 he married, 
and in 1732 began the publication of "Poor Rich- 
ard's Almanac," which was continued for twenty-five 
years — a most valuable compendium of prudential 
maxims and sound common-sense, a republication 
of which might furnish useful reading, during the 
long winter nights, for our National and State leg- 
islators. Franklin's political career commenced in 
1736, and during the same year he assisted in the 
establishment of the American Philosophical So- 
ciety and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1738 
he formed the first fire company ever organized in 
Philadelphia, to which was shortly afterward added 
an insurance office against losses by fire. In 1742 
he published his celebrated treatise upon the im- 
provement of chimneys, following this by inventing 
a stove known as the " Franklin," used for a century 

2* 



34 Continental Sketches. 

in all parts of tlie country. In the French war of 
1744 he proposed a plan of voluntary association 
for the defence of the country, which was joined by 
ten thousand persons, trained to the use and exer- 
cise of arms. He was chosen colonel of the Phila- 
delphia regiment, but declined the honor in favor of 
a friend. The same year he was elected a member 
of the Provincial Assembly, where he remained for 
ten years. He now devoted his time more particu- 
larly to philosophical and scientific researches, and 
in 1752 fixed an insulated iron rod to his own resi- 
dence to protect it from lightning, for which act his 
profound and wise neighbors deemed him a fit sub- 
ject for a lunatic asylum. In 1753 he assumed the 
office of Deputy Postmaster General of America, and, 
strange as it may seem to our modern postal officials, 
he made the Post Office Department a source of 
revenue to the British Crown, instead of a tax upon 
the people for its support. At this period Brad- 
dock was defeated in his wild and reckless expedi- 
tion against Fort Du Quesne, and the whole frontier 
was exposed to the incursions of the savages and the 
French. Franklin dropped his philosophy and his 
metaphysics, and at the head of a company of bold 
volunteers marched to the protection of our frontier. 
In 1757 the militia were disbanded by order of the 
British government, shortly after which Franklin 
was appointed agent to adjust the difficulties which 
had arisen between the citizens of Pennsylvania and 
the proprietary government. He sailed for Europe 



Benjamin Franklin. 85 

to lay the matter before the Privy Council. His 
fame as a philosojDher had preceded him, and un- 
sought on his part he received honorable degrees at 
London, Edinburgh, and Oxford. In 1764 he again 
returned to England to settle if possible the stamp- 
act difficulty, and lay the facts before the Crown. 
In 1766 and 1767 he made a trip to Holland, Ger- 
many, and France, where he met with most flatter- 
ing and distinguished receptions. His subsequent 
connection with the celebrated treaty of alliance, 
negotiated mainly through his instrumentality, is 
well known to every one conversant with our early 
national career. His connection with the conven- 
tion that framed the Constitution is also valuable 
subject matter of history. He was eighty-one years 
of age when a delegate to the latter position, the 
oldest member of that body. In 1788 he withdrew 
from public life, his great age rendering retirement 
desirable. He had two children, a son and a daugh- 
ter. The son under the British government was 
appointed Governor of New Jersey, and at the com- 
mencement of the Eevolution took up his residence 
in England, where he spent the remainder of his 
life. The daughter was married to an accomplished 
gentleman of Philadelphia, Mr. William Bache. 

Dr. Franklin died in Philadelphia on the 17th of 
April, 1790, aged 84 years. His death produced 
the most profound sensation throughout the coun- 
try, and it was computed that not less than twentv 
thousand persons attended the funeral. He was ad- 



36 Continental Sketches. 

mired and revered next to Washington. Congress 
directed a general mourning for him throughout 
the United States for the space of a month, and the 
National Assembly of France testified their sense of 
the loss which the whole world had sustained by 
decreeing that each member should wear mourning 
for three days. Genuine grief for the loss of the 
great and good man was universal. 

In reviewing the imperfect synopsis we have 
given of the leading points in the life of this great 
man who contributed so much to Colonial, State, 
and National history, indeed for the universal broth- 
erhood of man, one cannot fail to admire his many 
sterling, genuine traits of character. His individu- 
ality^ that characteristic of all great minds, is most 
marked. His resolute will bade defiance to every 
obstacle in his path, bounding swallow-like through 
sunshine and cloud with almost mathematical celer- 
ity and certainty. Such minds never fail. His most 
wonderful executive powers also stand out in bold 
relief. His labor triumphs and achievements are 
astounding and almost incomprehensible to the ordi- 
nary mind. View his whole life from any stand- 
point we may desire, as mechanic, inventor, public 
official, diplomat, statesman or philanthropist, and 
the golden fruits of his versatile life are rich, mellow, 
and abundant. His whole life was one of continu- 
ous hard work. He abhorred fashionable laziness 
and sickly sentimentalism, never calling on Hercules, 
but relying on his own strong shoulder to make the 



Benjamin Franklin. 37 

wheels move. Then, again, his sobriety assisted 
him in his physical and mental labors, for Frank- 
lin, although not noisy and demonstrative, was a 
practical, conscientious temperance man. He con- 
sidered intemperance the great enemy of the labor- 
ing classes, demoralizing and robbing them of their 
hard earnings ; and he advocated this, as he did all 
practical reforms, without fear or favor. His integ- 
rity^ however, was the brightest jewel in the casket, 
for in all his private and pubhc relations Franklin 
was scrupulously an honest man, abhorring debt, 
always fortifying his honor behind the entrench- 
ments of prudence and economy. His loyalty was 
above suspicion, and his efforts to assist his sorrow- 
stricken country in her hours of darkness and dis- 
tress should be familiar to every American school- 
boy. At no period of his life was he wealthy, but 
always in what might be termed comfortable cir- 
cumstances. Mere crude wealth, divorced from no- 
bler aspirations, is always flimsy and ephemeral, 
but well-directed intellect has the world as its audi- 
tory and lives forever in history. The titled Colo- 
nial aristocracy of our early career, and the daz- 
zling millionaires of our more advanced history, are 
nameless and forgotten, but their humble contem- 
porary — the penniless Franklin — will be remem- 
bered as long as science has a friend and honest 
loyalty an admirer. It is perhaps a lamentable but 
nevertheless an historical fact which cannot be ig- 
nored, that on the occasion of the passage of the 



38 Continental Sketches. 

Declaration of Independence there was considerable 
absenteeism, and a tremendous outside pressure to 
prevent its consummation. We will return to this 
part of our subject matter in a future article, and 
simply refer to it now to state that, although others, 
and many of them, were absent through real or 
fictitious cause, Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, 
was always at his post of duty, calm and serene, but 
firm and immovable as the cliffs of Gibraltar. 



EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF JOHN MORTON, 



The Man who held the balance of power in the 
Pennsylvania Delegation at the time of the pas- 
sage of the Declaration of Independence^ as de- 
scribed almost a century cfter his death — His ser- 
vices in the General Assembly and Congress — 
Some well- authenticated facts connected with the 
history of our Colonial severance. 

IN the quiet cemetery of St. James' Church, in 
the thrifty young city of Chester, on the Dela- 
ware,repose the remains of John Morton, one of the 
Pennsylvania signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. It is subject-matter of history, and true 
beyond cavil, that this same John Morton, at the 
time of our Colonial severance, by his ballot, held 
the balance of power in the Pennsylvania delega- 
tion, and by his single vote, if he had so desired, 
could have defeated the unanimous passage of the 
Declaration of Independence. 3y his intrepidity 
the social compact was sealed as a unit^ and our ca- 
reer as a Republic inaugurated. The defection of 
a single State at this thrilling crisis would have en- 
dangered the success of the whole grand movement, 
and thus completely changed the current of our 
national history. 

(39) 



40 Continental Sketches. 

A plain, practical, good man, of great personal 
purity, strict integrity, and marked decision of 
character, John Morton played no unimportant part 
in the early history of his country. With an instinc- 
tive love of freedom, he combined intense moral sen- 
sibility, and a conscientiousness which never allowed 
him, under the most trying circumstances, to swerve 
a hair's breadth from what he conceived to be the 
path of duty. These are the kindred elements and 
characteristics which in the past have given to 
religion and patriotism their martyrs and heroes. 
Before entering somewhat into detail as regards the 
many interesting events connected with the life of 
Judge Morton, some well- authenticated facts con- 
nected with the history of the Declaration may not 
prove uninteresting to the general reader. The 
prevailing popular opinion is that immediately on 
the passage of the historic document, July 4, 1776, 
it was signed on that day by the members whose 
names are affixed. Such, however, is not the fact ; 
not a single name was attached to it at that time. 
Fifteen days thereafter Congress ordered that it be 
engrossed on parchment and signed by every mem- 
ber. This was done on the 2d of the following 
August, almost thirty days after its original passage. 
It was on that day signed by all who were then 
members, and afterwards by several who were sub- 
sequently elected. A number who voted for the 
Declaration did not sign it on August 2d for in the 
interim their respective terms of office had expired. 



John Mokton. 41 

Strange to say, among those who subscribed their 
names was one who opposed its passage — Hon. Geo. 
Keed, of Delaware. 

The Pennsylvania delegation on this memorable 
occasion consisted of seven members, Messrs. Ben- 
jamin Franklin, James Wilson, John Morton, John 
Dickinson, Eobert Morris, Thos. Willing, and Chas. 
Humphreys. All arguments on the matter being ex- 
hausted, Congress resolved itself into a Committee of 
the Whole July 1, 1776. Without any preliminary 
skirmishing, the chairman, to test the matter, put 
the question direct to the convention, and all the 
States voted in the affirmative except Pennsylvania 
and Delaware, which gave the negative vote. Of 
the seven Pennsylvanians present, Morton, Franklin, 
and Wilson voted in favor of, and Dickinson, Mor- 
ris, Willing, and Humphreys in opposition to the 
measure. Delaware was a tie — Thomas McKean 
(born in Chester county, and afterwards Chief Jus- 
tice of our Commonwealth) voted in favor of the 
bill, and George Keed against it, Caesar Eodney, the 
third member, being unavoidably absent from his 
post of duty. On the next Thursday, July 4, 1776, 
amid the most intense excitement, the vital civil 
question of the age came before Congress. The 
scene in the old Independence Hall was morally 
grand beyond description, and the pulsation of pat- 
riotic hearts could almost be heard in the profound 
stillness imparted by the solemnity of the historic 
occasion. Even were the Colonial heroes successful 



42 Continental Sketches. 

in the vote which in a moment was to be taken, 
their future was fearfully problematic and dark, and 
each man knew it well. They represented a con- 
stituency of but three millions of people, scattered 
over a widely extended domain, with no recognized 
political status^ a depleted treasury, a disjointed 
brotherhood, bankrupt in everything but honest 
manhood, and bound together by no other bond 
than common sufferings, common danger, and com- 
mon necessities. Here was a crisis, for glory or 
shame, history or the halter. Eleven Colonies vo- 
ted successively in favor of the measure, and as 
each Colonial vote was announced, legislative dig- 
nity was for a moment dethroned by the suppressed, 
but still audible exultation of the triumphant pat- 
riots. And now, once more, there is almost the 
stillness of the sepulchre as the Colony of Delaware 
is called, and, like the lightning flash, all eyes are 
concentrated on her delegation. There is manifest 
surprise, and low whisperings and mutterings as the 
discovery is made that again one of her delegates is 
absent. The stern voice of the courteous but im- 
partial Speaker commands the clerk to proceed 
with the vote. McKean, true as steel, voted an 
emphatic aye, while Eeed, his colleague, equally 
loyal perhaps, but timidly created, rendered a vote 
for the opposition. At this moment the clatter of 
horses' feet is heard in front of State House Eow, 
and quickly dismounting from his foaming steed, 
booted and spurred, the third delegate from little 



John Morton. 43 

Delaware, the gallant Csesar Eodney, rushes into the 
assembly just in time to make the historic Declara- 
tion, thus far, a unit and a success. Anticipating 
the issue, McKean had dispatched a messenger for 
Rodney, and the latter, with whip and spur, had rid- 
den eighty miles, from the county of Kent, through 
marsh and swamp, with the dash and enthusiasm 
of a Richard Coeur de Leon, until he reached his 
loyal goal. To this point the friends of the meas- 
ure had been favored with blue skies and fair 
weather, but sturdy old Pennsylvania was yet to 
cast her ponderous vote, and the nervous anxiety 
as to the result was almost painful. Of the seven 
members enumerated above as composing her dele- 
gation, but five are actually in their seats in the 
convention. Dickinson and Morris, though present 
in the hall, are not in their official positions during 
the calling of the roll. One of the five is even ab- 
sent temporarily, and John Hancock, surveying the 
field, resorted to a little excusable legislative strat- 
egy, and, in order to kill time until the arrival of 
the mysterious absentee of the Pennsylvania dele- 
gation, was addressing the house on some minor 
parliamentary point, when the hall- door opened, and 
the missing delegate entered and quietly took his 
seat. That man was John Morton^ of Delaware comity. 
His blanched cheek, quivering lip, and clenched hand 
indicate a fearful internal struggle. Once more 
the sound of the Speaker's gavel is heard, silence 
ordered, and Pennsylvania, the last of the Thirteen 



44 Continental Sketches. 

Colonies, and the first in commercial importance, is 
' called upon to record her vote. Franklin votes aye, 
Willing nay, Wilson aye, and Humphrey nay. 
When the name of John Morton is called he is for 
an instant the focus of all eyes. The lip has ceased 
to quiver, the clenched hand has relaxed, and the 
blanched cheek is now crimsoned with the hot flush 
of conscientious resolve, and the utterance of his 
honest " Aye ! " reverberating through the old hall 
gives him historic fame and confirms the unanimity 
of the Declaration of Independence. 

All historical authority, contemporaneous or 
otherwise, unites in awarding the honor of giving 
the casting vote to Judge Morton, and it has never 
been denied by any reputable historiographer. In 
referring once more to the signers of the Declaration 
we find that of the seven members present from 
Pennsylvania — present at its passage — but four of 
their names are affixed to it, viz. : Eobert Morris, 
Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, and James Wil- 
son. The other five names subsequently added are 
Benjamin Kush, George Clymer, James Smith, 
George Taylor, and George Boss, who were ap- 
pointed delegates to the Continental Congress by 
the Legislature, on the 26th of July, 1776. 

John Morton deserves to be remembered with 
peculiar respect by State and Nation. The respon- 
sibility he assumed was great, even fearful, should the 
measure be attended with disastrous consequences, 
as was then most probable. Every element of a 



John Morton. 45 

potential lobby was brought into play to subvert 
and control his judgment in relation to this vote. 
But threats and bribes fell harmless at the feet of 
this Christian patriot. Friends, relatives, and neigh- 
bors ostracised him socially and politically for what 
they were pleased to term his criminal imprudence. 
During his last illness, on the very verge of the 
eternal world, he requested those who stood around 
his bedside to tell his enemies " that the hour would 
yet come when it would be acknowledged that his 
vote in favor of American independence was the 
most illustrious act of his life." Morton was a re- 
markably sensitive man, but lacked neither indi- 
viduahty nor decision, as the crowning act of his 
life testifies. For some time immediately after the 
promulgation of the Declaration our army in the 
field met with an almost unbroken series of disas- 
ters ; and solicitude on this point, coupled with the 
local persecutions he suffered, no doubt hastened 
his death. 

He lived only long enough to witness with a sad 
heart the calamities and misfortunes that befel the 
national arms in almost all the engagements of 1776 
and the spring of 1777, and was not permitted, in 
the wisdom of a Higher Power, to witness the 
bright sunlight of a glorious peace, enunciated on 
the nineteenth of April, 1783, after eight long years 
of sanguinary, desolating war. In relation to the 
status of a majority of that portion of the members 
of the Continental Congress who voted against the 



46 Continental Sketches. 

Declaration, it may be remarked tliat their patri- 
otism was never doubted by their colleagues, their 
constituents, or reliable history. There were thou- 
sands in the country of reliable, worthy, patriotic 
men, who deemed the agitation of so important a 
question at that particular time as premature and 
consequently inexpedient. This was the strong 
argument adduced by the opponents of the measure 
in the Continental Congress, timid croakers, but yet 
at heart genuine patriots, men who ardently desired 
but yet lacked the moral courage to assert their 
rights. Such a class is even yet always largely 
represented in all large deliberative bodies ; follow- 
ers, not leaders; good elements for reinforcements, 
but poor material for the advance guard. John 
Morton did not belong to the class to which we 
have alluded, but was blunt, frank and decided, and 
voted for independence simply because his con- 
scientious convictions led him in that direction. 
The opponents of the measure in the Pennsylvania 
delegation claimed, with some show of reason, that 
their instructions from the Legislature were of a 
pacific character and restricted the latitude of per- 
sonal judgment. It will be remembered that the 
members of the Continental Congress were elected 
by the several Colonial Legislatures, and not di- 
rectly by the people. The following is the closing 
paragraph of certain instructions issued by the 
Pennsylvania Legislature to the Congressional dele- 
gation on the 9th of November, 1775 : 



John Moeton. 47 

"Thougli the oppressive measures of the British 
Parliament and administration have compelled us to 
resist their violence by force of arms, yet we strictly 
enjoin you that you, in behalf of this Colony, dis- 
sent from and utterly reject any propositions, should 
such be made, that may cause or lead to a separation 
from our mother country, or to a change of the form 
of this Government." 

On the 14th of the following June we find addi- 
tional instructions issued, of which the following is 
the closing portion: "The happiness of these Colo- 
nies has, during the whole course of this fatal con- 
troversy, been our first wish — their reconciliation 
with Great Britain our next. Ardently have we 
prayed for the accomplishment of both. But if we 
renounce the one or the other, Ave humbly trust to 
the mercies of the Supreme Governor of the Uni- 
verse, that we shall not stand condemned before His 
throne, if our choice is determined by that over- 
ruling law of self-preservation which His divine 
wisdom has thought fit to implant in the hearts of 
His creatures." 

The last series of instructions in the main are 
pointed and decided, couched in language indicating 
earnest, solemn, religious conviction, and both are 
signed "by order of the House," John Morton, 
Speaker. He seems to have interpreted the instruc- 
tions in his own patriotic and original way. 

John Morton was born in 1724, in Kidley township, 
now Delaware county, formerly a part of Chester 



48 Continental Sketches. 

county, Pa. The house in which he was born is still 
standing on the Chester turnpike, (the old Queen's 
highway,) twelve miles from Philadelphia and three 
from the city of Chester. His ancestors were of 
Swedish extraction, and were among the first Swed- 
ish emigrants who settled on the banks of the Dela- 
ware, below Philadelphia. His father, for whom 
he was named, died a few months before his birth. 
His mother some time after was married to an in- 
telligent Englishman, John Sketchley, who possessed 
more than an ordinary education, and who, with 
great kindness and consideration, superintended the 
home education of his bright, promising step-son. 
His active mind rapidly expanded, and gave great 
promise of future usefulness. Under the guidance 
and management of Mr. Sketchley, young Morton 
became quite a profound mathematician, and very 
proficient as a surveyor, a profession most admirably 
adapted to the development of method, system and 
precision, in both thought and action. He never 
ceased to remember the kindness of Mr. Sketchley, 
who was indeed a skillful tutor, and a most faithful 
guardian* and friend. 

In 1764 he was commissioned as a justice of the 
peace, and the same year was sent as a delegate to 
the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, of which he 
was, for many years, an influential member, and for 
some time was Speaker of the Lower House. In 
1765 he was appointed by our Legislature to attend 
the General Congress, assembled in New York, to 



John Morton. 49 

concert measures for the repeal of the odious stamp 
act. In 1766 he was appointed sheriff of Chester 
county, which position he held for three years. In 
1772 he was elevated to a seat on the bench of the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which honorable 
position he filled with great dignity and ability. In 
July, 1774, he was elected a member of the historic 
Congress that convened in Philadelphia the follow- 
ing September to make one final effort to effect a 
reconciliation between the Colonies and the mother 
country. This body was composed of men of pro- 
found learning, inflexible firmness, and unblemished 
private and public character; men who could not 
be seduced from the straight path of duty by any 
of the glittering temptations of money or power 
unfortunately so potential in more modern times. 
Judge Morton earnestly concurred in all the ad- 
vanced movements and deliberations of that body, 
which virtually kindled the fires of the Eevolution. 
In May, 1775, he took his seat in Congress, and 
was re-elected in November. In July, 1776, he 
brilliantly closed his Congressional career by his 
historic vote in the creation of a unanimous Decla- 
ration of Independence, to which we have already 
feebly alluded. In April, 1777, he was attacked by 
an inflammatory fever, which terminated his hfe 
after a few days' illness, at the early age of fifty-four, 
just nine months after he had given his famous vote 
in the Continental Congress. John Morton was no 
ordinary man. To the cool caution of his calm 



60 Continental Sketches. 

temperament was strongly allied the inflexible will 
of a Cromwell. A stranger to cunning^ that ready 
weapon of small minds, he never viewed any Na- 
tional or State question from the stand-point of selfish 
policy. Such was his devotion to integrity that he 
would sacrifice his best personal friend, if that friend 
blocked his own path of duty. In private life and 
the social circle he was esteemed and beloved for 
his intelligent vivacity, unspotted personal character, 
and sweet Christian virtues. His descendants are 
widely scattered over the different sections of our 
country, some lingering around and about the old 
homestead in Delaware county, whilst others are 
prominently identified with the leading business in- 
terests of Philadelphia. 



GEORGE CLYMER'S MARKED TRAITS. 



A man who never bought or sought office^ who never 
traduced another'^ s character^ and whose devotion to 
his country developed itself in a long and honorable 
life — An orphan at seven years — From the counting- 
room to the head of a leading firm — His record in 
Congress. 

THE same strata of sterling qualities and attrac- 
tive excellencies appear to have pervaded the 
characters of the leading men of Pennsylvania, 
signers and others, who figured in our Kevolutionary 
history. Practical common sense, dignified gravity, 
intense conscientiousness, and burning patriotic zeal, 
seem to have permeated every fibre and muscle of 
those primitive patriots. 

Prominent among his compeers for stateliness of 
manners, elegant courtesy, and that ease and grace 
which sorae men seem to inherit, and which others 
can never acquire, was George Clymer. He was 
born in Philadelphia, in 1739. His father emigrated 
to this country from Bristol, England, and married 
a cultivated lady of Philadelphia. At the early age 
of seven young Clymer was left an orphan, and Mr. 
William Coleman, a maternal uncle, a gentleman of 
refinement and culture, and a prominent merchant, 

(51) 



52 Continental Sketches. 

claimed him as his ward, and personally superin- 
tended his early education. The guardian was emi- 
nently qualified for his responsible position, and the 
young orphan was peculiarly fortunate in securing 
in him a proficient tutor and most judicious coun- 
sellor and friend. On the completion of his pre- 
liminary education he was forthwith inducted into 
the counting-room of his worthy uncle, which he 
entered, however, under the silent protest of his 
own judgment. His genius was poorly adapted to 
mercantile life and the dull routine of commercial 
pursuits, being more friendly disposed to literary 
and scientific aspirations. However, he had too 
much good sense and gratitude to openly revolt 
against the judgment of his worthy relative, and a 
merchant he became. He inaugurated his commer- 
cial career by transacting business in the name of 
George Clymer, merchant, then in the name of Cly- 
mer & Eitchie : then formed a business alliance part- 
nership with a Mr. Meredith, and subsequently at the 
age of twenty-seven, a matrimonial alliance with the 
daughter of his last partner, a lady recognized 
among the elite of that period as one of the brilliant 
stars in fashionable circles. Mr. Clymer continued 
for several years a leading business man in Phila- 
delphia, and, although the bulk of his time was ab- 
sorbed by the cares and duties of his legitimate 
vocation, found sufficient leisure to store his mind 
with the general principles of international law, 
history, politics and light literature, and a vast 



George Clymer. 63 

amount of valuable general information. By nature 
he was a lover of free institutions and a democratic 
form of government, having implicit faith in the 
will of the people. At a very early age his feelings 
were strongly enlisted against the many arbitrary 
acts of the British government, and when concilia- 
tory measures failed to secure our rights, and the 
logic of protest, petition and appeal had become 
thoroughly exhausted, he was among the first men 
in Philadelphia to suggest and adopt proper meas- 
ures of national defence. George Clymer was not a 
theoretic patriot, feasting amid dreamy visions on 
hopes that could never be realized, but, Hke the ma- 
jority of his colleagues of that period, a practical, 
aggressive one, and in 1773 accepted a captain's 
commission of a volunteer company raised for the 
defence of the province. During that year a cargo 
of tea was sent out by Great Britain, consigned to 
certain parties in Philadelphia, for the purpose of 
indirectly levying a contribution on her citizens 
without their consent. Its arrival at our wharves 
created the most intense excitement. A mass or 
town meeting was called at once, and a committee 
was appointed, of which George Clymer was chair- 
man, to wait on the consignees and request them 
under no circumstances to offer that tea for sale in 
Philadelphia. The delicate task was faithfully per- 
formed by the committee, and not an ounce of the 
tea was allowed to be sold within the limits of the 
city. 



54 Continental Sketches. 

Two years after this (1776) Clymer was appointed 
a member of the historic Committee on Safety ; on 
the 20th day of July, 1776, he was appointed by 
the Colonial Legislature a member of the Continental 
Congress, sixteen days after the passage of the 
Declaration of Independence. As we have stated, 
however, in a previous article, he had the honor of 
affixing his name to that document on the second 
day of the following month. 

His practical business habits received honorable 
recognition by the Government in September, 1775, 
when he was appointed at that time, jointly with 
Mr. Stockton, to inspect and report upon the general 
condition of the northern wing of our army. In 
December of the same year the good citizens of 
Philadelphia were startled by the rumor that the 
British army was moving rapidly upon them. All 
was alarm and excitement. Congress, then in ses- 
sion there, deeming discretion the better part of 
valor, wisely concluded to adjourn at once to Balti- 
more, and there was no tie vote on that question. 
Eobert Morris, George Clymer and George Walton 
were appointed by Congress a committee to remain 
in Philadelphia and adopt such measures and trans- 
act such business as the extraordinary circumstances 
of the critical occasion might require. In 1777 he 
was once more returned to Congress, and so arduous 
were his duties, and so unremitting his exertions 
during that session, that his health was seriously 
impaired, and he was compelled for a brief season 



George Clymer. 55 

to withdraw from public life. His family resided 
at this time in Chester county, some twenty miles 
from Philadelphia. During the fall of that year a 
roving band of British stragglers attacked his house, 
destroying all his furniture, his family with the 
greatest difficulty escaping with their lives. Mr. 
Clymer himself was in Philadelphia at the time, and 
when the invaders reached that city in a few days 
they sought out his residence, and with a vulgar, mob- 
ocratic spirit, at variance with all recognized rules 
of honorable warfare, proceeded to level it to the 
ground, and were only dissuaded from their purpose 
when informed that the building was a leased one, 
in which Mr. Clymer had no financial interest what- 
ever. The fact that he was a shining mark for the 
wrath of the ruthless foe is the highest compliment 
that could be paid to his unswerving loyalty. But 
his country had still more work for the young, un- 
tiring patriot, and, in December of the same year, 
he was appointed a commissioner, in conjunction 
with several other gentlemen, to visit the wilds of 
Western Pennsylvania on important business of a 
secret and confidential nature. It is generally un- 
derstood that the object of this mission was to pre- 
serve friendly relations with the Indians of the 
border, and enlist some of the more friendly of the 
Shawnees and Delawares into the service of the 
United States. In 1780 our general army was suf- 
fering intensely from a combination of unpropitious 
causes, which threatened almost to eventuate in its 



66 Continental Sketches. 

disbandment. The suggestive mind of Kobert Mor- 
ris, the financial genius of our early history, origi- 
nated the old Bank of North America in the city of 
Philadelphia. This institution subserved many great 
and good purposes in its early days ; revived public 
credit ; promoted internal improvements ; but, better 
than all this, was instrumental, to a very great de- 
gree, in relieving the wants of our noble army, 
whose sufferings at that crisis were almost beyond 
human endurance. As an expression of its faith in 
and gratitude to this well-managed financial institu- 
tion Congress passed a formal resolution in its favor, 
and pledged the faith of the United States to indem- 
nify all subscriptions to its stock. George Clymer 
was one of the active minds of this financial experi- 
ment that ultimately developed into such grand 
proportions, and served for many years as one of 
its most efficient directors. In 1780 we find Mr. 
Clymer again re-elected or re-appointed to Congress. 
These renewals of public confidence in him were 
entirely unsolicited on his part, for in those halcyon 
days of primitive simplicity the office actually did 
seek the man and not the man the office. For two 
successive years he served his constituency and 
State most faithfully, seldom being absent from his 
post of duty, never allowing personal considerations 
to interfere with the discharge of his official duties; 
and never drawing any more compensation than he 
was honestly entitled to. In 1782 he removed with 
his family to the old town of Princeton, JST. J., for 



George Clymer. 57 

the purpose of educating his family at Nassau Hall, 
then as now one of the leading collegiate institutions 
of the land. At the beginning of the war, the old 
college doors were closed, and faculty and students 
were scattered, many of them fighting the battles of 
their country. The venerable Dr. Witherspoon, 
the patriot-president of the college, had exchanged 
the pulpit for the forum, and was now a Federal 
lawmaker in the Continental Congress at Philadel- 
phia. In 1782 it was re-opened, however, and in 
the quiet village of Princeton, with its literary at- 
mosphere and captivating social attractions, George 
Clymer settled down to enjoy the peace and luxury 
of private life after the toils, troubles and privations 
of a long, busy and eventful public career. In two 
brief years, however, he responded to another call 
from his native State, this time to be a representa- 
tive in her Legislature. Of this body he was an 
influential member, and was appointed by it to rep- 
resent the State in the great convention which met 
to frame the Constitution, which was but lately- 
changed. After its adoption he represented the State 
once more in a Congressional term of two years, 
when, declining a renomination, he closed his long, 
most honorable and highly useful legislative career. 
In 1791 Mr. Clymer was placed at the head of the 
excise department in Pennsylvania, at the time when 
Congress, judiciously or otherwise, passed a bill im- 
posing a duty on all spirits distilled in the country. 
This legislation was very unpopular in certain sec- 

3* 



58 Continental Sketches. 

tions of the country, and was particularly obnoxious 
to the citizens of Western Pennsylvania. This dis- 
satisfaction eventuated in what is known as the 
"whisky insurrection," and for a time assumed a 
most threatening attitude. Mr. Clymer had no taste 
for factious broils based on whisky, and soon re- 
signed an office which was very distasteful to him. 
In 1796 he was appointed, in connection with Colo- 
nels Hawkins and Pickens, to negotiate a treaty 
with the Cherokee and Creek Indians in Georgia. 
He sailed from Philadelphia, for Savannah, in April 
of that year, and narrowly escaped shipwreck by a 
violent storm, which continued for several days. He 
satisfactorily completed the object of his mission 
and returned to Philadelphia, and shortly after re- 
tired to that private life he so earnestly coveted. 
He subsequently officiated as president of the Phila- 
delphia Bank, the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, 
and the Academy of Fine Arts. He died January 
28, 1813, in the 74th year of his age. George Cly- 
mer was a little above the medium size, of fair com- 
plexion, and erect and manly in his personal bear- 
ing. His marked features indicated intelligence and 
benevolence, and resolution without arrogance. He 
possessed all that delicacy and sensibility so essential 
to taste, and was always an active friend of the fine 
arts and polite literature. He was a man of warm 
feelings, ardent in his affections, and the very life of 
the social circle. Modest and diffident, he was no ora- 
tor, but a writer of considerable force and elegance. 



George Clymer. 59 

There was a simplicity and frank honesty in his 
whole character well calculated to win the friend- 
ship of all with whom he came in contact. This 
charming trait, so rare in public men, was never 
blunted or blurred by contact with the rude elements 
of the rough outside world. He never bought or 
sought office, and scorned to practice the duplicity 
of the demagogue as the condition of any political 
preferment he ever received. He never spoke ill 
of the absent, never traduced any man's character, 
and in all matters, great or small, was most punc- 
tilious and exact in fulfilling all his promises. So- 
cially connected with some of the leading famihes of 
Philadelphia in her early history, the home of Mr. 
Clymer was the abode of taste, wealth, and generous 
hospitality. In all the varied spheres of life, in the 
public arena of politics or the quiet elegance of his 
own home, he was a man whose purity of character 
was unquestionable, and whose devotion to his 
country developed itself in a long, honorable life, 
devoted to her best interests. 



JAMES SMITH. IRISH AMERICAN. 



A man 'practical and prudent in his loyal career^ and 
brimful of that mother wit for which his race is 
proverbial — From College to the law office — An un- 
compromising advocate of prompt and vigorous 
measures — Colonel in the Army^ member of the Pro- 
vincial Convention of 1775, and one of the body to 
frame the first Constitution of Pennsylvania. 

AN interesting and somewhat remarkable fact, 
connected not only witli the Pennsylvania 
signers of the Declaration, but with all of them, was 
their astonishing longevity. They numbered fifty 
six persons and averaged sixty five years. Four of 
the number attained the age of ninety and upwards, 
fourteen exceeded eighty years, and twenty-three 
reached the venerable Psalmist's standard of three- 
score and ten. The fourteen members composing the 
New England delegation averaged seventy-five years. 
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, was the last survivor 
of the noble fifty-six. Of the nine signers of the 
Pennsylvania delegation five were natives of the 
province, one was born in Delaware, one in Scotland, 
and two in Ireland. The subject of our memoir, 
James Smith, was a native of the Emerald Isle, and, 
although his name has not figured conspicuously in 

(60) 



James Smith. 61 

our Revolutionary history in proportion to his in- 
trinsic merits, was a most worthy gentleman, em- 
inently aggressive, and withal practical and prudent 
in his loyal career, and brimful of that mother wit, 
the sauce piquante^ for which the Irish character is 
proverbial. One peculiarity of the man was his ret- 
icence concerning his age, his most intimate friends 
never being able to find out precisely what it was. 
Like some stately, fashionable maiden drifting from 
the whirlpool of social folly into the misty woodland 
of the "sere and yellow leaf," he was conscientiously 
opposed to telling any one his age, and pertinaciously 
and often bluntly refused to impart the secret to a 
living soul — a secret which was buried with him in 
his grave. His friends conjectured that he was born 
between the years 1715 and 1720. 

All that vast territory in Pennsylvania lying west 
of the Susquehanna, now abounding in blooming 
valleys, rich in agricultural wealth, dotted with 
smiling villages and thrifty cities, the church and 
academic spires indicating the positive worth and 
progressive spirit of the inhabitants, was a century 
ago a comparative wilderness. The father of James 
Smith, tired of the shackles and bondage of foreign 
despotism, left the shores of his native isle, and with 
a numerous family located in this unattractive waste, 
exiled as it were from all the comforts and luxuries 
of social life. They settled in 1743 in the old 
historic county of Cumberland, now one of the most 
beautiful of Southern Pennsylvania, where for many 



62 Continental Sketches. 

years they buffeted the storms and adversities of 
rough frontier hfe. Placing that high estimate on 
Hberal education which appears to have been a 
strong characteristic of our primitive forefathers, 
he selected from his family group his son James and 
placed him under the educational control of the 
distinguished Dr. Allison, then provost of the Col- 
lege of Philadelphia, who appears to have been the 
universal Colonial schoolmaster of the period. The 
classical proficiency of young Smith was of a high 
order, but he gave special attention to surveying, 
then one of the useful and practical professions of the 
day, and for which there was an unlimited demand. 
After completing his collegiate course in Phila- 
delphia he removed to Lancaster, then one of the 
outposts of civilization, and entered the office of 
Thomas Cookson, Esq., as a law student. On his 
admission to the bar he removed to the old village 
of Shippensburgh, at that time the court town of 
Cumberland county, and a point of considerable 
business importance. Remaining here for a short 
time his restless ambition yearned for a wider field 
of operation, and he removed to the thrifty town of 
York, Pa., where he permanently established himself, 
and where he successfully practiced his profession 
during the balance of his life. At the very inaugura- 
tion of the contest between Great Britain and the 
Colonies, the latter found a firm friend and gallant 
champion in the brilliant young lawyer of York, a 
representative man of the rough, strong, honest 



James Smith. 63 

elements of the rural districts of the wild frontier. 
In 1774, at the delegate meeting of all the counties 
of the State, convened to give an expression of 
public sentiment on the propriety and expediency of 
abstaining from the importation of any goods from 
England, James Smith was the representative from 
York, and was one of a committee appointed to 
draft instructions to the General Assembly, then 
about to convene. 

There is no disguising the fact that a most power- 
ful effort was being made by the friends of uncon- 
ditional peace to suppress anything like a public 
outbreak between the two countries. Many of these 
parties were actuated by the purest motives im- 
aginable, and these were encouraged by others 
naturally cautious and timid, representatives of that 
large ratio of society lacking moral courage when- 
ever it is essentially desirable, nervously receiving 
every incident as an accident, and every accident 
as a positive calamity. The impulsive loyalty of 
Smith, perhaps, drove him to the other extreme, and 
made him an uncompromising advocate of prompt 
and vigorous measures. After the adjournment of 
the convention to which allusion has been made, he 
returned in 1774 to York, and organized the first 
volunteer militia company ever raised in Penn- 
sylvania in opposition to the forces of Great Britain. 
He was elected captain of this company, and sub- 
sequently colonel of a regiment to which it became 
attached. Colonel Smith was a member of the 



64 Continental Sketches. 

Provincial Convention of January, 1775, and one 
of the ablest champions of the spirited declaration 
made by that body, viz.: that "if the British ad- 
ministration should determine by force to effect a 
submission to the late arbitrary acts of the British 
Parliament, in such a situation we hold it as an in- 
dispensable duty to resist such force, and at every 
hazard to defend the rights and liberties of Amer- 
ica." This resolution had the true ring of defiant 
resistance to despotic usurpation; but, strange as it 
may seem, it was practically ignored by a series of 
instructions issued November 9, of the same year, 
by the General Assembly to the delegates appointed 
by it to Congress. The tenor of these instructions 
was not hidden, as the following positive resolution 
indicates : " That though the oppressive measures of 
the British Parliament and administration have 
compelled us to resist their violence by force of 
arms, yet we strictly enjoin you that you, in behalf 
of this colony, dissent from and utterly reject any 
proposition, should such be made, that may cause or 
lead to a separation from our mother country or a 
change in the form of government." The dominant 
Quaker element, actuated, no doubt, by conscien- 
tious motives, was mainly instrumental in securing 
the passage of this strangely constructed resolution. 
Here was a dead-lock, a broad antagonism, one cloud 
charged with positive, the other with negative elec- 
tricity, in close proximity, with a collision inevita- 
ble. The shock and reverberation came on the 15th 



James Smith. 65 

of May, 1776, when Congress adopted a resolution 
which almost amounted to a separation. The citi- 
zens of Philadelphia assembled en masse five days 
after the passage of the resolution, and in front of 
the very building in which Congress was assembled, 
discussed and digested plans of positive resistance. 
The wildest enthusiasm prevailed, and Chestnut 
street was crowded with the excited populace, clam- 
oring for an immediate dissolution of our Colonial 
relations and " war to the hilt." The instructions 
of the Provincial Assembly were not only pointedly 
condemned, but hooted and spurned by the excited 
multitude, and a loud demand made for a Provincial 
Conference to establish a new form of government 
in Pennsylvania. This conference met on the 18th 
of June, 1776, and was composed of the advance 
guard, the progressive, intelligent young men of the 
State. Among these was James Smith, of York, 
manfully struggling in the front ranks for a clear 
definition of our national rights, and how to prompt- 
ly secure them. On the fourteenth of the same 
month, four days before the meeting of this confer- 
ence, the General Assembly had rescinded their ill- 
timed and obnoxious instructions to the delegates 
in Congress by an able and dignified State paper in 
the form of a resolution, closing thus : " The happi- 
ness of these Colonies has, during the whole course 
of this fatal controversy, been our first wish, their 
reconciliation with Great Britain our next. Ar- 
dently have we prayed for the accomplishment of 



66 Continental Sketches. 

both. But, if we renounce the one or the other, 
we humbly trust to the mercies of the Supreme 
Governor of the Universe, that we shall not stand 
condemned before His throne if our choice is deter- 
mined by that law of self-preservation which His 
Divine wisdom has thought fit to implant in the 
hearts of His creatures." This was signed "by 
order of the House, John Morton, Speaker." This 
prompt action of the Assembly would seem to 
have obviated the necessity of the special confer- 
ence meeting, but meet they did, determined to 
give formal expression of their views in relation 
to the anticipated Declaration of Independence. To 
accomplish this a motion was made by Dr. Benja- 
min Kush, then comparatively a young man, which 
was seconded by Col. James Smith; and these two 
gentlemen, in connection with the impulsive but 
brilliant Thomas McKean, were appointed a com- 
mittee to draft a clear, explicit declaration of their 
views on the matter. On the following morning 
they made their report, which, being unanimously 
confirmed by the conference and signed by the 
members, was transmitted to Congress on June the 
25th, a day or two before the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence by Congress was presented to that body. 
This document, with which Col. Smith was very 
closely identified, bears a marked resemblance to the 
original as drafted by Jefierson and promulgated 
by Congress, July 4, 1776. 

In the early part of July a Convention assembled 



James Smith. 67 

in Philadelphia to frame a Constitution for the State, 
and on the 15th instant <3olonel Smith appeared and 
took his seat as a member of that body. Five days 
thereafter he was elected by the convention a mem- 
ber of Congress, which position he held for several 
years, and in which he was considered strong, effi- 
cient, and incorruptible. After his withdrawal from 
Congress he resumed his professional pursuits, until 
1800, when he retired from the bar, after a success- 
ful career of sixty years, untarnished by a single 
dishonorable or disreputable episode. 

Colonel Smith was an eccentric person, of pecu- 
liar traits, remarkable for his love of sport and 
well-regulated conviviality. His satire was keen 
as a Damascus blade, and his humor inimitable, and 
in either sphere he was unsurpassed by Lucian, 
Swift, or Eabelais. He was a sanguine, hopeful, 
cheerful man, always searching for sunlight instead 
of clouds, his genial presence imparting almost fra- 
grance, stimulating the despondent, and strengthen- 
ing the doubtful amidst the many adversities and 
revolutions of the stirring times in which he lived. 
His memory was uncommonly retentive, and his 
mind well stored with humorous incidents and an- 
ecdotes, which he recited, when prudence and judg- 
ment dictated, with marked effect. His acquire- 
ments, however, were not by any means of a super- 
ficial character, for he was learned in the law, and 
a man of broad, comprehensive, statesmanlike views, 
a valuable acquisition to the niany honorable bodies 



68 Continental Sketches. 

with which he was officially connected. His loyalty 
was unfaltering and uncompromising, and he cheer- 
fully signed his name to the charter of our liberties, 
without doubt, cavil, or criticism. He died in 1806, 
at the supposed age of eighty-six. 



GEORGE TAYLOR OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



From the atmosphere of tinctures and lotions to an 
iron foundry as an ordinary day laborer — Next^ 
proprietor of a whole establishment — The result of 
prudence^ tact, economy, and industry — A Represent- 
ative of Northampton county in the Provincial As- 
sembly — Taylorh Congressional career, &c. 

THE life of George Taylor furnishes an illustri- 
ous example of the natural powers of a strong, 
rugged mind triumphing over the deficiencies of 
early education, and marching straight forward in 
the path of honor and distinction, regardless of every 
intervening obstacle. Notwithstanding the veil of 
oblivion obscures the minute details of this plain, 
practical, but honest and useful life, baffling the in-; 
genuity of the biographer, his fame as one of the 
signers of the Declaration is embalmed in the na- 
tional heart. Although an eminently useful man in 
our early history, a fine parliamentarian, peerless as 
an executive officer in the committee room, thor- 
oughly reliable in all startling crises, his long official 
career, unstained by a single blot of corruption, 
there is no man in American history about whom 
so little is known as George Taylor. No gilt-edged 
eulogium perpetuates his virtues, but his acts and 



70 Continental Sketches. 

deeds can only be found in the dusty records and ar- 
chives of our Colonial history. One of the nine dis- 
tinguished representatives of Pennsylvania who af- 
fixed his signature to the charter of our liberties, 
he is to-day almost forgotten, save through the me- 
dium of some brief, imperfect, unsatisfactory sketch. 

"What is glory? — in the socket 
See how dying tapers flare." 

Mr. Taylor was born in the North of Ireland in 
1716. His father was a highly respectable minister, 
of more than ordinary culture, with a keen appre- 
ciation of the advantages of a good education. He 
gave his son an opportunity to improve his mind, 
and after some preliminary preparation the young 
man commenced the study of medicine. He soon, 
however, became disgusted with his new profession, 
and sooner than be classified as a 

Quack-salving, cheating mountebank, whose skill 
"Would make the sound men sick, and sick men kill, 

abandoned the atmosphere of tinctures and lotions 
for a sphere of more variety and activity. About 
the year 1736, without a penny or an outfit, he went 
on board a ship sailing for JSTew York, and was re- 
gistered as a redemptioner, and on his arrival his 
services were sold, under certain stipulations to a 
Mr. Savage, the proprietor of extensive iron works 
in the old town of Durham, a few miles from Eas- 
ton. Pa. Here he was employed for some time as an 
ordinary day laborer, his specific work being that 



George Taylor. 71 

of a "filler" throwing coal into a furnace when in 
blast. 

In this uncongenial and trying position he never 
uttered a complaint, although the work was rough 
and his surroundings generally disagreeable. His 
employer soon transferred him from these menial 
duties to his own private office, where he was ex- 
ceedingly useful, and where he remained for several 
years. On the death of Mr. Savage young Taylor 
became connected in marriage with his widow, and 
consequently the proprietor of the whole establish- 
ment. In his new sphere, suddenly elevated from 
comparative poverty to financial independence, he 
exhibited great prudence, tact, economy and industry, 
and in a short time amassed a very large fortune. 
In a few years he purchased an additional estate on 
the Lehigh river, in Northampton county, where he 
erected a spacious mansion, and took up his perma- 
nent residence. Here he was first called into public 
life, and represented Northampton county in the 
Provincial Assembly, which met in Philadelphia, 
October, 15, 1764, of which body he was appointed 
a member of the Committee of Grievances, and 
where he displayed very considerable legislative 
capacity. In June, 1765, the Speaker of the Assem- 
bly received a proposal from the House of Repre- 
sentatives of Massachusetts Bay, soHciting a general 
Congress of Delegates to convene in New York city 
the ensuing fall. At the meeting of the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly, in September, of the same year, 



72 Continental Sketches. 

• 

this proposition was agreed to, and the Speaker, Mr. 
Fox, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Bryan, and John Morton 
were elected delegates to represent the Colony. An 
additional committee was appointed to draft in- 
structions for the government of this important 
delegation. George Taylor was a member of this 
latter committee, and his prudent suggestions and 
practical views had great force and consideration in 
framing these instructions. In 1765 he was re- 
elected a Kepresentative to the Provincial Assembly 
from Northampton county, and participated in the 
leading questions and measures then introduced. 
In June, 1766, we find him one of a committee to 
prepare an address of thanks to the King on the 
repeal of the Stamp Act. From 1764 to 1770 Mr. 
Taylor was very closely identified with our pro- 
vincial legislation, serving frequently and honorably 
on many very important committees, such as 
" amending the judiciary establishment," " to regu- 
late the assessment of taxes," " to investigate the 
rights of the House," " to choose the printer of the 
public laws," " to raise loans on bills of credit"' and 
" to prepare a system to improve the navigation of 
of our great rivers." In 1768 he made strenuous 
efforts to bring to the bar of public justice some 
" regulators " of our Colonial borders who had wil- 
fully and mahciously, without the least shadow of 
pretext or provocation, murdered in cold blood some 
Indians. This outrage almost precipitated a col- 
lision between the province and the Indians. Mr. 



f 



George Taylor. 73 

Taylor presented a strong address to the Governor 
on the subject, who gave it as much consideration 
as his conservative and dilatory character could con- 
sistently allow. In 1775 he was actively employed 
in developing his iron interests in Northampton, 
but met with such poor success that in order to re- 
cruit his failing fortune he was compelled to return 
to Durham, the scene of his former prosperity. Here 
he acted as an associate judge of the county court, 
and was appointed Colonel of militia. In October, 
1775, he took his seat once more as a member of 
the Provincial Assembly, where he served as a mem- 
ber of the committees on " Crown Grants," " Con- 
necticut Claims," "Procuring Arms," and as an 
honorable member of the historic Committee of 
Safety, then and since recognized as the great revo- 
lutionary organ of the government. On November 
4, 1775, the Assembly elected delegates to the suc- 
ceeding Continental Congress, and Mr. Taylor, in 
connection with several other prominent gentlemen, 
was appointed to draft a set of instructions for them. 
The circumstances surrounding the Colony of Penn- 
sylvania at that time were of a very singular char- 
acter. She had not felt so keenly the despotic heel 
of the oppressor as some of the other Colonies, her 
constitution was free and liberal, and her proprie- 
tary form of government was by no means oppres- 
sive. She had on more than one occasion been spe- 
cially favored by the Crown, and peace and general 
prosperity prevailed within her borders. These and 



74 Continental Sketches. 

other considerations created at that particular time 
a conservative sentiment bordering on a strong re- 
luctance to sever the bond so long uniting her to the 
mother country. Hence, the series of instructions 
emanating from this committee of seven, of a con- 
ciliatory character, urging its members to seek all 
honorable means for the redress of American griev- 
ances, but not to do anything to widen the breach 
and destroy that harmony and union which was so 
essential to the welfare of both countries. However, 
during the winter and spring of 1776 there was a 
great reaction in public sentiment throughout the 
length and breadth of her provincial borders, event- 
uating in the Assembly rescinding their former in- 
structions, and declaring firmly and boldly that they 
were unwilling to purchase peace by a dishonorable 
submission to arbitrary power. These latter in- 
structions, which had the ring of sterling patriotism, 
authorized the Pennsylvania Kepresentatives " to con- 
cur with the other delegates in Congress in forming 
such further compacts between the united Colonies, 
concluding such treaties with foreign kingdoms and 
States, and in adopting such other measures as, upon 
a view of all circumstances, shall be judged neces- 
sary for promoting the liberty, safety and interests 
of America, reserving to the people of this Colony 
the sole and exclusive right of regulating the inter- 
nal government and policy of the same." These in- 
structions were adopted by the Assembly, June 14, 
1776, and were a powerful auxiliary in promoting 



Geokge Taylor. 75 

the passage of tlie Declaration on the 4th of the 
ensuing month. The approbation of Pennsylvania 
was only obtained by the casting vote of the Hon. 
John Morton. On the 20th of July the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly proceeded to a new choice of Eep- 
resentatives, and those who had opposed the pas- 
sage of the Declaration were dropped from the rolls, 
and in their stead were appointed Messrs. Taylor, 
Eoss, Clymer, Eush and Smith. The Declaration 
was passed and proclaimed July 4, but the copy 
engrossed on parchment was not prepared until 
nearly a month after. The gentlemen named above, 
although not present at its formal passage, had the 
honor of affixing their names to it August 2, 1776, 
at which time it was signed by the members gen- 
erally. In his Congressional career George Taylor 
was noted for his sagacity, decision, patriotism, and 
fine executive powers. In March, 1777, he retired 
from Congress and repaired to Easton, where he 
concentrated his energies in recuperating his private 
fortune, and with very great success. He never en- 
tered the political arena or the legislative hall after- 
wards. It was glory enough for him to see his 
once subjugated and impoverished country swiftly 
and surely developing into an honorable position 
among the nations of the earth ; and it was the crown- 
ing honor of his whole life to be permitted to sign 
his honest name to the Magna Charta of our liber- 
ties. He died on the 23d of February, 1781, in the 
sixty-sixth year of his age. 



JAMES WILSON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Student in the schools of Edinburgh and St. Andrew^ 
tutor in the Philadelphia College^ memher of the 
Bar J delegate to the Provincial Convention of the 
State^ elected to Congress^ and Advocate General for 
France in America — Accusations sufficiently dis- 
proved hy history. 

TO the multitude the name of James Wilson, of 
Pennsylvania, is not a familiar one. Many 
others, far less deserving, have been perpetuated in 
history under the misnomer of fame. To the well- 
versed student of genei^l jurisprudence and the in- 
telligent reader of our primitive Colonial and Revo- 
lutionary times, his name and fame are familiar, and 
to such he needs no special introduction. Born in 
1742, in Scotland, the home of Wallace and Bruce, 
of Burns and Sir Walter Scott, the abode of stub- 
born but consistent theology, cultivated fiction and 
gentle song, he was fortunate in securing very great 
educational advantages. His father resided in the 
neighborhood of St. Andrew's, and although not 
wealthy, was possessed of that moderate competency 
which, when coupled with a contented disposition, 
is oftentimes more productive of real comfort than 
the inheritance of a kingdom. Within the classic 

(76) 



James Wilson. 77 

walls of the celebrated schools of Edinburgh and 
St. Andrew's, young Wilson, taking advantage of 
fortuitous circumstances, studied with an untiring 
will and received a superior education. James Wil- 
son was a natural-born republican and a lover of free 
institutions. At the age of twenty-four he resolved 
to leave his native land and seek fortune and fame 
in the wilderness of America. In the spring of 
1766 he arrived in the city of Philadelphia, with a 
fall supply of recommendations from prominent men 
in Scotland to leading men here. He was not long 
in securing a position, for in less than three months 
after his arrival he was appointed tutor in the Phila- 
delphia College, where he remained for some time, 
and was recognized as one of the most efficient clas- 
sical scholars that had ever been identified with the 
institution. By assiduous application to his pro- 
fessional duties, the cultivation of a good character, 
and possessing genial, fascinating personal manners, 
he attracted the attention of some of the leading 
men of the metropolis, who were generously await- 
ing to afford him any facilities required to promote 
his success. By the joint influence of the learned 
and good Bishop White and Judge Peters, he was 
afforded an opportunity of entering the office of the 
celebrated lawyer, John Dickinson, who received his 
own professional training at the Temple, in London, 
and was widely known as a writer of mark and a 
most profound jurist. Dickinson was the author of 
the celebrated " Farmer's Letters," written in 1767- 



78 Continental Sketches. 

68, and although his pohtical history is somewhat 
blurred by his peculiar views in relation to the pas- 
sage of the Declaration of Independence, he was in 
the main a sound, loyal man, possessing a highly 
cultivated mind, refined taste, habitual eloquence, 
and polished elegance of manners. Young Wilson 
was fortunate in securing such a worthy preceptor, 
and for two years he applied himself to his legal 
studies with great zeal and industry. Immediately 
after his admission to the bar he left Philadelphia 
and settled in Heading, at that time a very small, 
retired village. He remained there, however, but 
a short time, and then removed to the venerable 
borough of Carlisle, in Cumberland County, where 
he practiced with very great success for several 
years and acquired the reputation of being a most 
eminent counsellor. He removed afterwards to An- 
napolis, Md., whence he came to Philadelphia in 
1778, where he continued permanently to reside 
during the remainder of his life. In 1774 he was 
a member of the Provincial Convention of Penn- 
sylvania, and, in connection with Mr. Dickinson, 
was nominated as a delegate to Congress. Both, 
however, were defeated through the manipulation and 
intrigue of Speaker Galloway, a gentleman of very 
strongly suspected loyalty, who afterwards allied 
himself with the British when they occupied Phila- 
delphia. In the following year Mr. Wilson was 
elected to Congress, and took his seat in that body 
May 10, 1775. Here he remained for two years. 



James Wilson. 79 

doing good official duty, wlien he was removed 
through the intense partisan feeling then prevailing. 
In the fall of 1782, however, he was re-elected, and 
took his seat January 2, 1783. Mr. Wilson was at 
this particular period in the very zenith of his pro- 
fessional glory, and was considered by all odds the 
best lawyer in the whole Commonwealth. At that 
time a serious controversy was going on between 
Pennsylvania and Connecticut about the proper title 
to certain valuable lands claimed by the latter State 
and located within the charter boundary of the 
former. In this important controversy Mr. Wilson 
was appointed by the Supreme Executive Council 
to take charge of the interests of Pennsylvania. A 
court of commissioners was appointed to determine 
the rightful claimant, and December 30, 1782, the 
great question came up before that body at Trenton, 
K J. On this occasion Mr. Wilson put forth his 
ablest efforts, and by a luminous and impressive 
argument, which occupied the attention of the court 
for four days, successfully carried his point, and re- 
ceived from the learned commission a unanimous 
decision in favor of the claims of Pennsylvania. 
As corroborative of the very high legal character 
enjoyed by Mr. Wilson, it may be remarked that he 
received at this period from the French Government 
the important appointment of advocate general for 
France in this country. He was thus commissioned 
June 5, 1779, and for two years performed its re- 
quirements with honor and credit, when he resigned 



80 Continental Sketches. 

on account of some minor disagreement about his 
official pay. He continued, however, subsequently 
to transact much consular and other important busi- 
ness for the French government, and the King, as 
a slight compensation for his valuable services, gave 
him ten thousand livres. In addition to being an 
intellectual giant in his chosen profession, Mr. Wil- 
son was a most capable and trustworthy representa- 
tive of the people in Congress. He steered clear of 
all subsidies, bounties, and bribes, and studied well 
the wants and interests of his constituents. His 
general business habits were of a superior order, 
and in the committee-room, being sagacious, faith- 
ful, and industrious, he worked assiduously and 
effectually, with the quiet system of a well-regula- 
ted machine. Such elements, combined with strong 
native talent and a mind most admirably trained, 
produced him much fame, and, as a consequence, no 
little persecution. In proportion as he rose in pub- 
lic estimation was he calumniated and slandered by 
puny rivals whom he had quietly but rapidly out- 
run in the race for professional and political honors. 

" Base envy, withers at another's joy, 
And hates the excellence it cannot reach." 

Two specific charges seem to have been made by 
this class of humanitarians against James Wilson. 
He was accused of being secretly opposed to the 
Declaration of Independence, and also of being one 
of a hostile combination organized against Wash- 
ington in 1777. History furnishes sufficient denial 



James Wilson. 81 

through the official records of the Government to 
the first charge, which was as foundationless as 
" the baseless fabric of a dream." On the first of 
July, 1776, as we have stated in a former article, 
when the grave question was discussed in Commit- 
tee of the Whole, and received the votes of all but 
two States, James Wilson's record is clear and un- 
impeachable ; he voted in the affirmative. On the 
memorable fourth of the same month, when the 
question was revived once more, Franklin, Morton, 
and James Wilson voted in favor of the sterling- 
measure, and thus secured a unanimous vote of the 
thirteen colonies in favor of its passage. 

As to the second charge, it was equally unfound- 
ed. The conspiracy against General Washington, 
which most certainly did exist, was more of a mili- 
tary than of a civil character. Washington, by a 
series of brilliant, rapid strides, reached the very 
summit of haman exaltation, and was justly termed 
the idol of the nation. The recital of his troubles 
at this particular period furnishes the same old story 
with which history abounds. As long as victory 
perched upon his banner his life was one continuous, 
magnificent ovation ; but when disaster came with 
its chilHng blasts and threatening clouds, the firm 
friends of yesterday fell thick and fast around him 
" like leaves in Yalumbrosa." When reverses over- 
took his special command. General Gates with the 
northern wing was acquiring additional fame by the 
capitulation of Saratoga; the latter, flushed with 

4* 



82 Continental Sketches. 

success, coveted the coronet another wore, and 
dimmed the lustre of all his military achieve- 
ments by the unsoldierly and unfriendly attitude 
he assumed towards George Washington. In this 
unworthy crusade he was assisted by some subordi- 
nate officers, and not a few members of Congress. 
But among them all there is no evidence whatever 
to implicate James Wilson, and nothing to compro- 
mise his reputation as a staunch friend of the great 
chieftain. Generals Gates and Conway were really 
the prime movers in the whole disgraceful con- 
spiracy against Washington, but the latter had a 
strong hold on public favor which he had gallantly 
and honestly earned, and a fierce reaction soon set 
in and once more entrenched him firmly in the affec- 
tions of the whole nation. Gates, whose vaulting 
ambition had sadly overleapt itself, dwindled into 
comparative obscurity, which was somewhat acceler- 
ated by his disastrous defeat at Camden. Conway, 
the champion calumniator of the period, scorned by 
all honorable men for his gross abuse of one who oc- 
cupied such a worthy and honorable place in the 
nation, being charged with palpable cowardice at 
the battle of Germantown, resigned his commission 
April 28, 1778, and quietly drifted into oblivion. 

Wilson was a brilliant member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1787, and, being a man of 
sagacity and foresight, a profound lawyer of great 
tact, and a fluent, forcible speaker, did as much 
as any one man in that famed body for the 



James Wilson. 83 

creation of the Constitution under which we now 
exist. Nay, more, on the 23d of July, 1787, it was 
resolved " That the proceedings of the convention 
for the establishment of a National Government, 
except what respects the Supreme Executive, be 
referred to a committee for the purpose of reporting 
a Constitution conformably to the proceedings afore- 
said." Of this most important committee James 
Wilson was chairman, and on the 6tli of August 
they reported the Constitution. This was a high 
honor conferred on Pennsylvania, and its noble ap- 
pointee fulfilled his commission in a manner worthy 
the great Commonwealth he represented. Mr. Wil- 
son was subsequently a member of the State Legis- 
lature, when the important duty devolved upon it 
of ratifying the general Constitution, and here again 
his experience as a legislator and erudition as a law- 
yer made him eminently useful. After the Federal 
Constitution was ratified, a convention was called to 
make our State Constitution harmonize with that of 
the General Government, and Mr. Wilson was one 
of a committee appointed to make the necessary 
change, and upon him rested the task of making the 
draft. In corroboration of what we have before in- 
timated as to the good feeling existing between 
Washington and himself, in 1789 the former ap- 
pointed him a justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. The bench at that time was pro- 
verbially strong. John Jay was Chief Justice, and 
his colleagues were ex-Chief Justice Cushing, of 



84 Continental Sketches. 

Massacliusetts ; ex- Chief Justice Harrison, of Mary- 
land (formerly one of the confidential secretaries of 
Washington) ; ex- Judge Blair, of Virginia ; John 
Rutledge, the accomplished scholar and statesman 
of South Carolina, and James Wilson, of Pennsyl- 
vania. This was an array of almost unparalleled 
intellectual brilliancy, but plain James Wilson, of 
Pennsylvania, was the peer of any man who sat in 
that court. He officiated in this high and honora- 
ble position for nine years. While attending court 
as a United States Circuit Judge in 1798, in Eden- 
ton, North Carolina, he was taken suddenly ill and 
died there, aged fifty-six years. Judge Wilson was 
a man about six feet in stature, of fine personal ap- 
pearance and graceful demeanor. He was a shining 
member of the Philadelphia bar in its comparative 
infancy, and as a citizen and gentleman was noted 
for his graceful courtesy and genial hospitality. He 
was always distinguished for great integrity of char- 
acter and an inviolate regard for truth. He was 
twice married, and many of his honorable descend- 
ants are yet living in the States of New York and 
Pennsylvania. 



HON. GEORGE ROSS, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW. 



The result of fifteen years' practice in Lancaster 
county — Prosecutor to the King and Representa- 
tive to the Pennsylvania Assembly — Points in his 
career as a Legislator — An ardent supporter of the 
demand for a General Congress — Member of the 
Committee of Grievances and of the General Con- 
vention^ (&c., dhc. 

THIS gentleman, whose name is the last of the 
Pennsylvania delegation affixed to the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was the son of the Eev. George 
Eoss, rector of the Episcopal church in the old town 
of New Castle, Delaware. He was born in 1730, 
and his youth was characterized by an unusual fond- 
ness for literature and thirst for learning. His 
worthy father, a gentleman of culture and educa- 
tion, accorded to the son every advantage his cir- 
cumstances would permit to develop and improve 
his literary tastes. Fortified by cherished home 
principles and the best educational facilities the vil- 
lage could afford, young Eoss, at the early age of 
eighteen, enrolled himself as a law student in the 
office of his brother, John Eoss, Esq., at that time 
a promising lawyer in the city of Philadelphia. 
After devoting three years of untiring study to his 

(85) 



86 Continental Sketches. 

new profession he determined to risk his fortune in 
the old frontier town of Lancaster, at that time near 
the western limits of civilization. He timidly shrunk 
from the formidable competition of the Philadelphia 
bar, which, even at that early day, strange as it may 
seem, was in the very zenith of its professional glory, 
including in its membership the most brilliant law- 
yers of the whole country. George Eoss went to 
the Far West in Lancaster county, armed and 
equipped with a good character and a superior edu- 
cation, and Knked his youthful fortune with the 
humble, honest yeomanry of that distant land, now 
accessible in two hours by rail from Philadelphia. 
He settled there in 1751, and soon married Miss 
Ann Lawler, an accomplished and cultivated young 
lady residing in his newly adopted home. 

For fifteen long years he devoted his undivided 
time and energies to his profession, intellectual capi- 
tal well invested, producing him in return a large 
and lucrative practice, and for a short term the 
honorable local office of prosecutor to the King. 
During all this time he eschewed politics, entering 
its fascinating arena in 1768, when he was elected a 
Eepresentative from Lancaster county to the Penn- 
sylvania Assembly, taking his seat in October of 
the same year. He remained in this position for 
several consecutive years, and won the respect of 
his colleagues of all pohtical shades, and the appro- 
bation of an inteUigent constituency. Whilst there 
he made the Indian question a special study. This 



George Koss. 87 

theme was as vexatious a one in old as it has been 
in modern times, and was a subject of constant anx- 
iety to the province, producing oftentimes very great 
differences between the Assembly and the Govern- 
ors. It was a sort of standing controversial ques- 
tion for the political magnates to fall back upon 
when they had a superabundance of leisure time, 
which was very often the case. The Governor fre- 
quently interfered in the matter in an arbitrary and 
injudicious manner, his motives being good, but his 
suggestions being impracticable and decidedly im- 
politic. On one occasion he recommended in his 
message an increase of the garrison at Fort Pitt. 
The Assembly were marked in their opposition to 
this, and their reply, couched in respectful but em- 
phatic language, was prepared by Koss, of Lancas- 
ter. "We all know," it recites, "that from the first 
settlement of the province, down to the late French 
and Indian war, the most perfect good understand- 
ing and friendship were preserved between this 
government and those people, by a conduct uniform- 
ly just and kind towards them ; that since the late 
Indian war the like happy effects have been pro- 
duced by the like policy, and that on the contrary 
the maintaining of garrisons in or near their country 
has been frequently an object of their jealousy and 
complaints. ^^^^^^^-^^ 
" We might offer other reasons for not concurring 
in sentiment with your Honor on the propriety of 
supporting a garrison at Fort Pitt; but, being of 



88 Continental Sketches. 

opinion that any warlike preparations, even within 
our own frontier, at a time of prevailing harmony 
between us and the natives, may be attended with 
more ill than good consequences, we shall waive 
them as unnecessary, and content ourselves with as- 
suring you that we shall, and we have no doubt that 
all future Assemblies will be very ready, when there 
shall be real occasion, to afford every kind of protec- 
tion to the back inhabitants the circumstances of 
the province will allow." 

George Boss, however, was destined by his erudi- 
tion and force of character to play a more conspic- 
uous part, in a more comprehensive drama, than the 
maintainance of a petty garrison at Fort Pitt in the 
Western wilds of Pennsylvania. The arbitrary pro- 
ceedings of the British government were electrifying 
the nation, and creating deep, hoarse, colonial mut- 
terings and threats from New Hampshire to the 
Carolinas. The demand of Virginia and other 
States for the meeting of a general congress found 
an ardent supporter in Mr. Eoss. The resolutions 
making this request were received by the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly on the very eve of its dissolution, 
and on account of their profound importance final 
action was postponed, and the matter referred to the 
succeeding Assembly. Mr. Eoss was appointed chair- 
man of a committee to communicate this action to 
the Virginia House of Delegates, which was done in 
a prompt and courteous manner. In July following 
a committee of seven on the part of the province was 



George Eoss. 89 

appointed to meet the other colonial delegates at a 
time and place to be determined. The instructions 
to this committee by a singular coincidence were 
drafted by Ross himself, and were positive and con- 
cise, giving the honorable appointees considerable 
discretion and latitude. In obedience to these in- 
structions he took his seat in Congress September 5, 
1774, and filled the position until January, 1777, 
when he obtained leave of absence on account of sick- 
ness, and retired. His public career as a Congres- 
sional Representative ehcited the warmest commen- 
dation from his constituents, as is evidenced by the 
following resolutions passed by the inhabitants of 
old Lancaster county : 

Resolved^ That the sum of one hundred and fifty 
pounds out of the county stock be forthwith trans- 
mitted to George Ross, one of the members of As- 
sembly for this county, and one of the delegates for 
this Colony in the Continental Congress, and that he 
be requested to accept the same as a testimony from 
this county of their sense of his attendance on the 
public business, to his great private loss, and of 
their approbation of his conduct. 

Resolved^ That if it be more agreeable, Mr. Ross 
purchase with part of the said money a genteel piece 
of plate, one ornamented as he thinks proper, to 
remain with him as a testimony of the esteem this 
county has for him, by reason of his patriotic con- 
duct in the great struggle for American liberty. 

These resolutions, couched perhaps in plain, homely 



90 Continental Sketches. 

phraseology, indicate a patriotic gratitude and great 
personal confidence on the part of the honest 
yeomanry of his adopted county, and their presenta- 
tion was exceedingly gratifying to Mr. Koss. From 
a positive sense of duty, however, he felt compelled 
to decline an acceptance of either the pounds or the 
plate, considering it as he remarked, " the duty of 
every man, and especially of every representative 
of the people, to contribute by every means within' 
his power to the welfare of his country, without ex- 
pecting pecuniary rewards I'''' This was considered 
sound doctrine in our primitive history, but its sym- 
metry has not only been slightly marred, but very 
badly damaged, in modern Legislative circles. Al- 
though a member of Congress, Mr. Ross was at the 
same time an active, influential member of the Pro- 
vincial Legislature. In 1775 the Governor trans- 
mitted a message to the House, in which he argued 
in favor of pacific measures as a good stroke of 
Colonial policy, in view of the threatening attitude 
assumed by the mother country. It was a common 
custom at that time to reply at once to the messages 
of the Governor, and his present action demanded a 
public expression of opinion by the different mem- 
bers. The question was whether Pennsylvania 
would make an humble retraction, or order an un- 
compromising advance. The talent of the House 
developed itself in a brilliant debate, and George 
Ross, as the leading friend of decisive measures, 
succeeded in securing a committee coinciding with 



George Eoss. ' 91 

his views, and of which he was a member. This 
committee presented their report in courteous, but 
strong terms, and its reception was the signal for 
an exciting debate, which lasted two days, ending, 
however, in its adoption by twenty-two to fifteen 
votes. Strange, that then, as now, numerically 
strong minorities were always found when great 
national questions were involved. In the summer 
of 1775 something more tangible and vigorous was 
demanded than Legislative resolves — something 
more formidable than rhetorical display or paper 
missiles. Keenly appreciative of the crisis, the 
Assembly appointed Mr. Eoss, and several other 
worthy gentleman, as a committee to " consider and 
report such measures as they might think proper to 
place Philadelphia and the Province in a state of 
defence." 

This committee reported promptly, recommend- 
ing the people to associate for the protection of 
their lives, liberty, and property ; and strongly urg- 
ing upon the inhabitants of the province the import- 
ance of collecting stores of ammunition and arms. 
This was the nucleus of the celebrated Committee 
of Safety, afterwards formed, which did such good 
practical work in the early days of the Eevolution, 
and of which George Eoss was an active and effi- 
cient member. This committee was really for a 
time the potential executive organ of the Govern- 
ment, and was clothed with almost unlimited pow- 
ers, which it seldom, if ever, abused. He belonged 



92 Continental Sketches. 

also to the Committee of Grievances, and was ap- 
pointed, with two others, to prepare rules and regu- 
lations for the government of the forces of the pro- 
vince which might be raised. 

On the dissolution of the Proprietary government 
and a substitution of a General Convention for the 
previous Legislature, Mr. Eoss represented Lancas- 
ter county in this new body, and was recognized as 
one of its leading members. In this sphere he was 
appointed to assist in preparing a declaration of 
rights for the State, and was chairman of two very 
important committees — one for framing regulations 
for the government of the convention ; the other for 
preparing an ordinance declaratory of what should 
be considered high treason and misprison of treason 
against the State, and the punishment for the same. 
In rehearsing briefly the salient points in the career 
of this distinguished man we notice his great capa- 
city for labor ; his untiring industry, as proven by 
his voluminous work as a committee-man ; his ster- 
ling integrity, and his genial, unostentatious man- 
ners, all indicating a happy blending of the incorrupt- 
ible statesman and the Colonial patriot. Mr. Eoss 
was well versed in the law, and before the Eevolution 
took high rank in his profession. On its inaugura- 
tion and during its continuance his sphere was chang- 
ed from that of mere local subordinate provincial 
judicature to a higher plane involving the consider- 
ation and solution of great and grave national ques- 
tions. His compeers were gifted, high-toned honor- 



George Ross. 93 

able gentlemen — James Wilson, then of Carlisle, 
Biddle of Reading, Read, Attorney General Sergent, 
and Lewis, formed a brilliant legal constellation, 
eminently worthy the growing fame of the young 
Colony. Mr. Ross was appointed a judge of the 
Court of Admiralty for Pennsylvania, April 14, 
1779. In July of the same year he died at Lancas- 
ter, in the fiftieth year of his age. 



THE DASHING ANTHONY WAYNE. 



A man whose military genius never deserted him — 
The hero of Ticonderoga, Brandywine^ German- 
town^ Monmouth^ and other sanguinary battles of 
the Revolution^ portrayed — Stony Point — " Fort 
and garrison are ours " — The Pennsylvania Gen- 
eral's movements in the memorable campaign 
against Cornwallis. 

"Oh for the swords of former time, 
Oh for the men who bore them, 
When armed for right, they stood sublime 
And tyrants crouched before them ?" 

AMONG the gallant men who participated in our 
Revolutionary struggle, covering themselves 
with glory, honestly earning the gratitude of poster- 
ity, and disarming the criticism of the historian, was 
the distinguished Pennsylvanian, General Anthony 
Wayne. From the very incipiency of the war to 
its brilliant termination, when peace returned "with 
healing on her wings and majesty in her beams," 
his career was that of an honest patriot and a bold, 
dashing cavalier, his whole life a thrilling tableau 
of peril and glory. The mihtary genius of the man 
never deserted him, but gained lustre with age, spark- 
ling brilliantly at Ticonderoga and Brandy wine, and 
bursting forth in a blaze of glory on the historic and 

(94) 



Anthony Wayne. 95 

sanguinary battle-fields of Germantown and Mon- 
mouth. Major General Anthony Wayne was born 
at Waynesboro, Chester county, Pa., January 1, 
1745. His father was a native of the same county 
— an intelligent, thrifty farmer — and for several 
years was an honorable member of the Colonial 
General Assembly prior to the Kevolution. His 
grandfather, a fine specimen of the old English gen- 
tleman, was a native of Yorkshire, and commanded 
a squadron at the battle of the Boyne, shortly after 
which engagement he emigrated to America. An- 
thony received his primary education at Phila- 
delphia, and at the early age of 18 was so proficient 
as a land surveyor as to attract the attention of Dr. 
Franklin, who selected him to superintend the man- 
agement of a projected settlement in Nova Scotia, 
which position, however, he never accepted. 

In 1773 he was returned as a member of the As- 
sembly from his native county, in which position he 
proved himself not only an advanced friend of free 
institutions, but exhibited considerable talent as a 
legislator, the fruition of which was only thwarted 
by the startling military developments in which he 
subsequently played so conspicuous a part. On all 
proper occasions he opposed with consummate abil- 
ity and tact the encroachments of the mother coun- 
try upon our reserved rights, and did much towards 
shaping the opinion of his native State in relation to 
the contemplated outbreak which might burst forth 
at any moment from the smouldering Vesuvius of an 



96 Continental Sketches. 

excited public sentiment. In 1775 he was married, 
and settling down on his little estate, was appointed 
a member of the Committee of Safety, in which 
sphere he gave considerable attention to military 
drill and tactics; indeed, all his military education 
was received in this primitive school. The same 
year he was authorized to raise a regiment in Ches- 
ter county, and such was his personal magnetism, 
combined with his great energy, that the trust was 
fulfilled in less than two weeks. Soon after, he was 
detached from his original command and ordered to 
Canada under General Thompson, where he covered 
the retreat of the provincial forces at Three Kivers, 
in which movement General Thompson was taken 
prisoner, and young Wayne was severely wounded. 
At Ticonderoga, in 1776, he displayed great cour- 
age and skill, and was a special favorite of General 
Gates, who complimented him on his personal brav- 
ery and eminent ability as an engineer. At Bran- 
dy wine he gave another magnificent exhibition of 
that matchless courage which is as natural to some 
men as cowardice is to others, brilliantly and suc- 
cessfully opposing for a long time the progress of 
the enemy at Chadd's Ford. Public sentiment, 
fickle as the winds, and oftentimes unreliable as it 
is excitable, demoralized by the repeated defeats of 
the National arms, forced the battle of Brandy wine 
at a most unpropitious time. Military authority 
protested in vain against the conflict, which event- 
uated in an unfortunate but not discreditable result. 



Anthony Wayne. 97 

In this engagement the Americans were inferior in 
numbers, discipline and arms, bat not lacking in 
that thrilling valor which afterwards exhibited 
itself on so many bloody battle-fields. The ground 
was bravely fought inch by inch, and although par- 
tial defeat was our fate, the rank and file were be- 
guiled with the flattering theory so common under 
similar circumstances in our late civil war, that the 
enemy lo^t as many as ourselves. The American 
commander-in-chief determined to hazard another 
battle at the first opportunity, and as a preliminary 
step, detached General Wayne with his division of 
braves, with instructions to harrass the foe by every 
means in his power. 

The British troops were drawn up near the old 
town of Tredyffrin, and Wayne's small force was 
located about three miles in the rear of their left 
wing, near the old Paoli tavern. Notwithstanding 
he had taken all reasonable precautionary measures 
to warrant comparative safety, about 11 o'clock on 
the night of September 20th his pickets came flying 
in, hotly pursued by the British troops under Gen- 
eral Gray. The night was fearfully dark, and the 
American troops were aroused from their peaceful 
dreams only to meet the fixed bayonets of the ruth- 
less invaders. For a time Wayne and his valiant 
men fought desperately, but were soon compelled to 
succumb to superior numbers, and beat a retreat. 
In a short time he reformed his line a little distance 
from the original engagement, and found that as a 

5 



98 Continental Sketches. 

sad result of the midnight surprise he had lost, in an 
engagement not lasting over one hour, one hundred 
and fifty men killed and wounded. The blighting 
tongue of slander, and the freezing envy of the line, 
anxious to detract from the rapidly -growing fame 
of the intrepid young commander, whose pathway 
was already golden with bright promises of the 
future, attempted to hold him responsible for the 
unfortunate defeat at Paoli. He at once demanded 
a court-martial, which was promptly granted, and, 
after a full hearing of the facts, he was honorably 
acquitted by the finding that he had done everything 
"consistent with the character of an active, brave, 
and efficient officer." He lost victory, but not repu- 
tation, at the midnight slaughter of Paoli. A chaste, 
substantial monument marks the spot where the 
brave men fell on the night of September 20, 1777. 
Soon afterwards he gained additional fame by his 
gallant action at the battle of Germantown, where 
he led his men into the very heart of the fight with 
an abandon almost amounting to positive reckless- 
ness, having one horse shot under him, another as 
he was mounting him, receiving himself almost at 
the same moment wounds in his left foot and left 
hand. 

Although a valiant warrior in the field, Greneral 
Wayne was distinguished in the councils of war for 
his great prudence and foresight. Before the bat- 
tle of Monmouth the only two officers really in favor 
of an aggressive movement were the two distin- 



Anthony Wayne. 99 

guished young Pennsylvania generals, Wayne and 
Cadwalader. The other American officers were in- 
fluenced and controlled by the opinions of Baron 
Steuben and Generals Du Portail and Lee, who vehe- 
mently opposed an engagement at the time as hazard- 
ous in the extreme. Washington, though warmly 
attached to these distinguished foreigners, and emi- 
nently grateful for their valuable assistance, dissent- 
ed from their theory in this matter and approved 
that of Calwalader and Wayne, resulting in an en- 
gagement so highly honorable to American arms 
and valor. Here once more Wayne was conspicu- 
ous for the ardor of his attack, as Washington 
makes mention in his official report to Congress. He 
says: "Were I to conclude my account of this day's 
transaction Avithout expressing my obligations to the 
officers of the army in general, I should do injustice 
to their merits and violence to my own feelings. 
They seemed to vie with each other in manifesting 
their zeal and bravery. The catalogue of those who 
distinguished themselves is too long to admit of par- 
ticularizing individuals, but T cannot forbear men- 
tioning Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, whose 
good conduct and bravery throughout the whole en- 
gagement deserves particular commendation." An 
exceptional reference of this kind from such an im- 
partial and distinguished source is, perhaps, the very 
highest compliment any man could receive. Per- 
haps the finest exhibition of combined skill and 
dash in the eventful life of General Wayne was de- 



100 Continental Sketches. 

veloped in the storming of Stony Point, July 15, 
1779. Having conceived the design, Washington 
prudently and wisely committed its execution to 
Wayne, in whom he had unlimited confidence. 
Stony Point was a very formidable fort on the Hud- 
son, its base being washed on one side by the waters 
of that beautiful river. The other sides were pro- 
tected by an extensive morass, over which there was 
but a single crossing place. This fine, natural posi- 
tion was surrounded with frowning batteries of artil- 
lery, heavy breastworks, and an almost impenetrable 
circle of skillfully prepared abattis. To make assur- 
ance doubly sure, and render this strong position 
perfectly impregnable, three British men-of-war were 
in the river below, the guns of which commanded the 
entire surroundings of the base of the hill. On the 
15th of July General Wayne marched from Sandy 
Beach, arriving at 8 P. M. within a short distance 
of the fort, where he halted to perfect his prelimi- 
nary arrangements for the terrific assault. It was 
a bold task, but the perilous enterprise was in the 
hands of a bold man. At 11 o'clock, at the head of 
his column, he commenced the advance, the com- 
mand having unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, 
intent upon victory or death. The fort was carried 
by storm, without the firing of a gun. The garri- 
son consisted of six hundred men. Of these, five 
hundred and forty -three were made prisoners, the 
balance being killed in the conflict. The intrepid 
leader, who always led and never followed, was in 



Anthony Wayne. 101 

the very centre of the desperate hand-to-hand fight, 
and, while encouraging the men of Febinger's regi- 
ment, of which he had command, was wounded in 
the head by a musket ball. As he fell, he thought 
the wound was mortal, and requested of his gallant 
comrades to be carried forward that he might die 
within the walls of the fort they had so nobly won. 
A faint conception of the fierceness of the encounter 
may be gathered from the fact that of the twenty 
men detailed as a "forlorn hope" to remove the 
abattis, seventeen were killed. For his bravery on 
this occasion, justly considered the most brilliant 
victory of the whole war. Congress presented Gen- 
eral Wayne with a costly gold medal, emblematic 
of the action. His report of the battle was com- 
municated to his Commander-in-Chief in the follow- 
ing laconic letter : 

Stony Point, July 16, 1779, ) 
2 o'clock A. M. ) 

Dear General:— The fort and garrison, with Col. 
Johnson, are ours. The officers and men behaved like 
men determined to be free. 

Yours most sincerely, 

Anthony Wayne. 
To General Washington, 

In 1781 he bore a conspicuous part in the mem- 
orable campaign which resulted in the surrender of 
Cornwallis. The British having made considerable 
advance in Georgia, Washington dispatched Wayne 
there to take command and bring matters up to a 
respectable standard. After a series of sanguinary 



102 Continental Sketches. 

skirmislies and battles, he brought order out of chaos 
and established general security within the borders 
of the whole State. The Georgians were very grateful 
for his valuable services, and their Legislature gave 
him a valuable farm, as a slight testimonial of their 
esteem. Peace being declared, shortly after this 
he returned to his quiet home in Chester county. 
In 1789 he was a member of the Pennsylvania Leg- 
islature, and a great friend of the Federal Consti- 
tution. In 1792 he was appointed to succeed Gen- 
eral St. Clair in command of the army engaged 
against the Indians on our western frontier. He 
succeeded not only in driving them back, but oc- 
cupied their territory by a chain of military posts, 
thus effectually checking all future predatory in- 
cursions, and holding the ground as he won it. 
After a year of rough, dangerous border warfare 
with an unscrupulous foe, he compelled them to suc- 
cumb to his iron will and sue for a definite treaty of 
peace, which he concluded with them. He died, 
December 14, 1796, aged fifty-one years, at Fort 
Presque, then a far-off western post on the outskirts 
of civiHzation, now the beautiful young city of Erie. 
Some time afterwards his remains were exhumed by 
a devoted son, and removed to the quiet borders of 
his native county, where they were subsequently sur- 
mounted by a marble monument of symmetry and 
beauty, the grateful offering of the Pennsylvania 
State Society of the Cincinnati. Granite, bronze, or 
marble never covered the grave of a braver man 



Anthony Wayne. 103 

than Anthony "Wayne of Chester county. He won 
and preserved through life the love and esteem of 
George Washington. To his great natural mihtary 
genius he added the ardent enthusiasm of genuine 
patriotism ; and whether we view him as a stripling 
on the Canadian frontier, or as a bronzed veteran 
among the palmettoes of the South,. or fighting the 
local Kevolutionary battles of our own latitude, we 
find him one of the most remarkable military men 
of Revolutionary times, worthy the gratitude of the 
nation, and one of whom every Pennsylvanian may 
well be proud. 



ARTHUR ST. CLAIR. 



WE shall not attempt minutely to delineate the 
character of General St. Clair. His his- 
tory is intimately connected with our early Colonial 
era, and from 1760 to 1812 we find him the recipient 
of high military and civil positions, the subject of 
caustic criticism and censure, and, at times, the grand 
central figure of that popular idolatry which always 
kneels and worships at the shrine of success. His 
whole life is an epitome of victories and defeats, 
wealth and poverty, gilded promises and blasted 
hopes. Although for half a century intimately 
identified with the development and progress of 
Pennsylvania, Arthur St. Clair was not a native of 
that colony, but was born at Thurso, Caithness, 
Scotland, in 1734. He was grandson of the Earl of 
Eoslyn, and studied medicine with the celebrated 
John Hunter. By the death of his mother he in- 
herited a handsome estate, and, abandoning his pro- 
fessional studies, he purchased an Ensigncy in the 
60th Foot, May 13, 1757. He came to America with 
Boscawen's fleet in 1758, and served under Amherst 
at the capture of Louisburg. fie was made a Lieu- 
tenant, April 17, 1759, and gained great distinction 
by his intrepid valor under General Wolfe at Quebec, 

(104) 



Arthur St. Clair. 105 

during tlie same year. On May 14, 1760, he mar- 
ried Phebe, a daughter of Balthazar Bayard and 
Mary Bowdoin, a half sister of Governor James 
Bowdoin. On April 16, 1762, he resigned his com- 
mission, and two years after purchased an estate in 
Ligonier valley, at that time on the very outskirts 
of civilization in Pennsylvania. Here he perma- 
nently located his family, erected large mills, and gave 
his undivided attention to manufactures and other 
industrial pursuits. After residing here for several 
years he was appointed surveyor of the old Cum- 
berland district, and in 1770 was made a member oi 
the proprietary council. In 1771 he was appointed 
a justice and recorder for Bedford county, and in 
1773 received similar appointments for Westmore- 
land county. In 1775 he was appointed Colonel of 
militia, and in the fall of that year he accompanied, 
as Secretary, Commissioners James Wilson, Lewis 
Morris and Dr. Walker to confer and treat with the 
Indians at Fort Pitt. On January 3, 1776, he was 
made a Colonel in the Continental army, with power 
to raise a regiment to serve in Canada. In six weeks 
after this authority was granted he was ready with 
his troops to take the field, and, as Colonel of the 2d 
Pennsylvania regiment, on March 2, 1776, his gallant 
command took up their line of march to the north- 
ern wilds of Canada. After the disastrous termi- 
nation of the Three Kivers affair he very materially 
aided General Sullivan in saving his entire army 
from capture. He was appointed Brigadier General, 

*5 



106 Continental Sketches. 

August 9, 1776, and Major General, February 19, 
1777. In January, 1776, lie resigned numerous civil 
offices he had held, and, joining "Washington in 
November of the same year, he was at once ap- 
pointed to organize the New Jersey Militia. In 
council, on the night of January 2, 1777, he recom- 
mended the flank movement which precipitated the 
battle of Princeton, in which historic engagement 
he rendered material and effective service by pro- 
tecting the fords at Assumpink. For a short time 
he now officiated as Adjutant General of the army, 
and in March succeeded General Gates in command 
at Philadelphia. On April 1, 1777, he took com- 
mand at Ticonderoga. The result of this unfortu- 
nate affair is well known to every intelligent reader 
of American history. On the night of July 4, 1777, 
he was compelled to evacuate the fort, his command 
being totally inadequate to its defence. Although 
his garrison of 2,000 men was badly equipped, he 
was sanguine of holding the post, but the forces of 
General Burgoyne having obtained possession of 
Sugar Hill, which was improperly fortified, secured 
a commanding position, and St. Clair was compelled 
to withdraw his forces precipitately, which was done 
with a heavy loss. From this date he lost popular 
favor as a military leader. Public sentiment was 
divided in relation to the matter, but St. Clair never 
fully recovered from the disaster of tliat dull heavy 
night at Ticonderoga. He was court-martialed and 
officially vindicated. The court met in September, 



Arthur St. Clair. 107 

1778, and declared " that Major General St. Clair is 
with the highest honor acquitted of the charges 
against him." Though not officially employed, and 
being a warm personal friend of General Washing- 
ton, the latter retained him on his military staff at 
Brandj^wine, September 11, 1777. He also assisted 
General Sullivan in preparing the expedition against 
the Six Nations, and was one of the commissioners 
to arrange a cartel with the British at Amboy, 
March 9, 1780. On August 1st of the same year, 
he was appointed to command a corps of light in- 
fantry in the absence of General Lafayette. He 
was also a member of the court-martial which con- 
demned Major Andre. He was active in raising 
and forwarding troops to the South, and in October 
joined Washington, and participated in the capture 
of Cornwallis at Yorktown. After the declaration of 
peace. General St. Clair returned to the State of his 
adoption, and took up his residence once more amid 
the wilds of Ligonier. He at once was the recip- 
ient of high civil honors. In 1783 he was a mem- 
ber of the Pennsylvania Council of Censors, and was 
a Delegate to Congress from November 2, 1785, to 
November 28, 1787. During the latter portion of 
his term he was elected presiding officer of that 
highly-distinguished and honorable body. In 1786 
he was chosen a member of the American Philo- 
sophical Society, and on February 1, 1788, was ap- 
pointed Governor of the North Western Territory. 
In January, 1790, he fixed the seat of justice at 



108 Continental Sketches. 

Cincinnati ; giving that ^place its name^ in honor of 
the Society of which he was the Pennsylvania Presi- 
dent in 1783-9. His mihtary career now seemed to 
brighten temporarily; and on March 4, 1790, he 
was appointed General-in-Chief of the Army. He 
shortly after moved against the Indians of the 
Miami and the Wabash. The proximity of the foe 
was communicated to General Bntler, second in com- 
mand, but not directly to General St. Clair. At 
sunrise, on the morning of the 4th, a vigorous 
attack was made by the Indians, and in spite of St. 
Clair's heroic efforts, he met with an overwhelming 
defeat, and lost 600 out of a force of 1,400 men. A 
committee of investigation, appointed by Congress, 
completely vindicated him, but the popular jury 
never did. The memory of Ticonderoga was re- 
vived, and his military fame was now irrevocably 
lost. He resigned his military position, March 5, 
1792, and on November 22, 1802, he was removed 
by President Jefferson from his position as Gov- 
ernor of the Northwestern Territory. He had many 
friends, and, like all positive men, numerous enemies. 
He had many virtues, and perhaps some vices, but 
he was bold, brave and generous, possessing the fine 
courtesy of a cultivated gentleman, and the blunt 
dignity of a gallant soldier. After his removal 
from office, he retired to a small log cabin on the 
summit of Chestnut Eidge, in Westmoreland county, 
where he spent the balance of his days in compara- 
tive poverty. In 1813 the Legislature of Pennsylva- 



f I 



Akthue St. Claik. 109 

nia granted him an annuity of $400, and a short 
time prior to his death he received a pension from 
the United States Government of sixty dollars per 
month. He published a "Narrative of his Cam- 
paign in 1791," which excited some attention and 
considerable comment. He died at Greensbnrg, 
Pennsylvania, August 31, 1818. 



THOS. MIFFLIN, SOLDIER-STATESMAN. 



From the counting-house into the arena of party pol- 
itics — A member of the first Congress^ Quartermaster 
General in the American Army^ banished from all 
the church privileges of the Friends^ and President 
of the body to which Washington tendered his res- 
ignation as commander of the victorious forces. 

THOMAS MIFFLIN, the soldier- statesman, who 
wore with becoming grace and modesty the 
passants of a major-general and the laurels of many 
an honorable civil position in our primitive history, 
was born in Philadelphia, in 1744. His parents oc- 
cupied commanding social positions, were Quakers 
in their religious faith, scrupulously jealous of their 
church tenets, and strict disciplinarians. His early 
life was surrounded by those advantages and luxu- 
ries incident to all well-regulated households where 
religion and culture shed their benign influence. 
His education was entrusted to the Rev. Dr. Smith, 
provost of the University, a profound scholar and ac- 
complished gentleman. For more than forty years, 
indeed, during his whole life, he was connected by 
terms of warm friendship and cordial intimacy with 
his honored preceptor. Of ardent temperament, 
sanguine disposition, and active impulses, young 
Mifflin, in very early life, zealously opposed the en- 

(110) 



Thomas Mifflin. Hi 

croaching legislation of the British Parliament upon 
our reserved rights. His father, intending to make 
him a merchant, placed him in the counting-room of 
Mr. WilKam Coleman, one of the leading merchants 
of Philadelphia at that time, a most estimable man, 
and an intimate friend and companion of Dr. Frank- 
lin. He became restive, however, under the restric- 
tions and limitations of commercial life, and yearned 
for the excitement of public position, where his ner- 
vous ambition could have a wider sphere of opera- 
tion. When the dark clouds of war hovered over 
the defenceless and impoverished Colonies, threaten- 
ing them with the deluge of extermination, although 
many hearts palpitated with fear, and others suc- 
cumbed to the potentiality of selfishness, the clarion 
voice of the ardent, eloquent young Pennsylvanian 
gave forth no uncertain sound. With the self-reli- 
ance of an accomplished athlete, he bounded at once 
into the arena of party politics, and in 1774 was 
elected a member of the first Congress. In this posi- 
tion his loyal utterances, always pointed and un- 
equivocal, fairly electrified his auditors by their for- 
cible delivery. All positive men have this redeem- 
ing quality — that you always know in great crises 
just where to find them. Morally considered, the 
positively bad man is perhaps the inferior of the 
negatively good one, but both are comparatively use- 
less when great deeds are to be accomplished. 

Known mischiefs have their cure, but doubts have none ; 
And better is despair than fruitless hope mix'd with a kill- 
ing fear. 



112 Continental Sketches. 

Thomas Mifflin was a man of pronounced individ- 
uality, and his devotion to a principle was so intense 
that neither Church, State, nor social considerations 
could prevail to mar his judgment or cripple his 
honest convictions. He was among the very first 
commissioned officers of the Continental army, 
having been appointed Quartermaster-General in 
1775. Adhering most consistently to their avowed 
principles, his Quaker brethren, astounded at his 
warlike proclivities, gave him a ticket- of-leave, and 
banished him from all Church privileges. Not 
blessed with the heritage of a calm, cool tempera- 
ment, he became restless under what he considered 
the tardy prosecution of the war, and on several oc- 
casions was unjustly severe in his strictures on this 
point, reflecting bitterly and unwisely on his supe- 
rior officer, the Commander-in-chief. This, however, 
was more an error of the head than the heart, amply 
compensated for in the future by the zeal with which 
he labored for the good of the general cause, and his 
many subsequent exhibitions of kindness to Wash- 
ington personally. He was President of Congress 
at Annapolis, when the the latter tendered his res- 
ignation as commander of the American forces. 
This interesting event, perhaps the most impressive 
and sublime in our national history, occurred on the 
23d of December, 1783. All preliminary arrange- 
ments had been made by order of Congress, and, in 
obedience to the same, the great Commander-in-chief, 
the bronzed and victorious warrior, who for eight 



Thomas Mifflin. 113 

years had not slept beneath the roof of his humble 
home in "Virginia, was formally admitted to the Con- 
gress of the nation, to sheath his sword and resign 
his commission. He moved into the audience-cham- 
ber of the nation he had saved with that quiet 
grace and majestic presence for which he was so 
proverbial, amid the enthusiastic plaudits of the as- 
sembled multitude. After he was seated, the Pre- 
sident, General Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, politely in- 
timated that they were prepared to receive his com- 
munications. In a brief but appropriate speech, 
delivered with great feeling to a tearful audience, 
he congratulated them felicitously on the happy ter- 
mination of the w^ar, and indicated a desire to resign 
at once into the hands of Congress the important 
trust committed to him. "I consider it," he elo- 
quently concluded, "an indispensable duty to close 
this last act of my official life by commending the 
interests of our dearest country to the protection of 
Almighty God, and those who have the superinten- 
dence of them to His holy keeping. Having now 
finished the work assigned me, I retire from the 
theatre of action, and bidding an aff'ectionate fare- 
well to this august body, under whose orders I have 
so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take 
my leave of all the emoluments of public life." 

He then gracefully stepped forward a few paces, and 
delivered into the hands of the President his com- 
mission and a copy of his address. General Mifflin, 
who was a brilliant orator, briefly replied, review- 



114 Continental Sketches. 

ing in his happiest ettb rt the great career brought 
to a close. "The glory of your virtues," he con- 
cluded, " will not terminate with your military com- 
mand ; it will continue to animate the remotest ages. 
We join with you in commending the interests of 
the country to Almighty God, beseeching Him to 
dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to im- 
prove the opportunity afforded them of becoming a 
happy and respectable nation. And for you we ad- 
dress to Him our warmest prayers that a life so 
beloved may be fostered with all His care, that your 
days may be as happy as they have been illustrious, 
and that He will finally give you that reward which 
this world cannot bestow." General Mifflin asserte d 
.his own true, heroic manhood in his eloquent re- 
sponse on this most memorable occasion. Although 
a decided partisan, he never dealt in that coarse 
abuse and bitter invective so characteristic of his 
political friends at the close of Washington's Presi- 
dential career. We are apt to imagine nowadays 
that party fealty imperiously demands scurrilous 
abuse of an honest opponent, simply because he dif- 
fers from us in sentiment or opinion. This license, 
which certainly has scope enough in modern politics, 
is but a dim shadow of the slimy original in the 
period referred to, when Frenau, Bache, Genet, Tom 
Paine, and even Jackson and Jefferson, poured forth 
such torrents of abuse against the personal and offi - 
cial character of Washington that their reproduc - 
tion is painful to the historian and distasteful to the 



Thomas Mifflin. 115 

intelligent reader. In 1787 we find the name of 
Thomas Mifflin affixed to the Federal Constitution, 
promulgated by the historic convention of which he 
was so prominent and distinguished a member. In 
reviewing its deliberations and debates, we find him 
a leading participant in all the discussions incident 
to the many grave questions then under considera- 
tion. His utterances and opinions had great weight, 
supported as they always were by an irresistible 
array of facts, and delivered in eloquent style, well 
calculated to wield immense influence in any organic 
political body. In October, 1788, he succeeded Dr. 
Franklin as President of the Supreme Executive 
Council of Pennsylvania, which position he occupied 
until October, 1790. He presided over the Consti- 
tutional Convention which met in September of the 
same year, and by that body was chosen the first 
Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
He served three terms as Governor, extending from 
1790 to 1799. During the insurrection of 1794 he 
utilized his marked oratorical powers to the great 
advantage of the nation and the State. His earnest, 
natural, stirring appeals always met with a hearty 
response from the masses. The imperfections of the 
militia laws of Pennsylvania were oftentimes more 
than compensated for by the personal magnetism and 
thrilling eloquence of her distinguished Chief Mag- 
istrate, who was as potential in peace as he was 
formidable in war. Governor Mifflin died in Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1800, in the fifty- 



116 Continental Sketches. 

seventh year of his age. His life was a stormy, 
eventful one, producing for him many friends, and 
not a few enemies. Perhaps the only stain resting 
upon his reputation was his identification with the 
celebrated " Conway cabal," a politico-military con- 
spiracy to have General Gates supersede General 
Washington in command of the American army. 
Governor Mifflin lived long enough after the failure 
of the enterprise to see his error, and made all the 
reparation he could consistent with the feelings of 
an honorable man. His courage and patriotism 
were undoubted, his statesmanship was of a high 
order, and his private character was without spot or 
blemish. 



GENERAL WILLIAM IRVINE. 



A Zealous Patriot^ Judicious Statesman^ and Con- 
scientious Executor of all Public Trusts — Scholastic 
and Literary Attai7iments of a High Order — The 
Meetings Preliminary to the Historic Provincial 
Convention at Philadelphia in July of 1774 — With 
the Army in Canada — An Unsuccessful Attempt to 
Surprise the Vanguards of the British Forces at 
Trois Rivieres^ &c. 

WILLIAM IRVINE was born at Fermanagh, 
Ireland, November 3, 1741. Possessed of a 
strong, clear, penetrating mind, admirably balanced, 
he was a zealous patriot, a judicious statesman, and 
a conscientious executor of all public trusts com- 
mitted to his care. His elementary education com- 
menced at a grammar school at Enniskillen, and was 
completed at the celebrated University of Dublin. 
His scholastic and literary attainments were of a 
high order, and, soon after graduating, he adopted 
the profession of medicine, which he studied earn- 
estly for several years in the office of the celebrated 
Dr. Cleghorn. He was soon appointed surgeon on 
board a man-of-war, and honorably served in that 
capacity during part of the war of 1756-63 between 
Great Britain and France. On the declaration of 

(117) 



118 Continental Sketches. 

peace in 1763 he emigrated to the United States, 
and in 1764, attracted by the number and character 
of his countrymen who had settled along the southern 
border of Pennsylvania, he located in Carlisle. Here, 
by superior professional skill and urbane manners, 
he soon commanded public confidence and secured a 
large and lucrative practice. He remained at Car- 
lisle ten years, and deserted his successful profession- 
al field only at the beginning of our Eevolutionary 
difficulties, his sympathies and feelings being strong- 
ly enlisted from the first in favor of the struggling 
Colonies. Political controversies at that time were 
particularly bitter and acrimonious in Pennsylvania, 
requiring combined tact and prudence to promote 
harmony in the solution of grave colonial and na- 
tional questions. Great wisdom and adroit states- 
manship were in constant requisition to counteract 
the evil results arising from certain peculiar con- 
scientious scruples which disaffected several of the 
religious sects ; national prejudices, inseparable from 
a population of mixed habits, languages, and nation- 
alities ; and lastly, proprietary influence, which, 
through the multiplied channels of relatives, agents, 
and a whole army of subordinate officials, permeated 
the entire Colony, addressing itself alternately to 
the hopes and fears of the community. In such an 
unpromising crisis as this Mr. Irvine, by his ster- 
ling worth and judicious conservatism, contributed 
no little to pilot his adopted State through her poli- 
tical straits into an honorable harbor. Impelled by 



Geneeal William Irvine. 119 

an honest love of State and country, and in order to 
consummate some specific and decisive measures, a 
preliminary meeting of distinguished gentlemen 
from various points in Pennsylvania convened at 
Philadelphia, June 18, 1774. Other meetings of a 
like character were held simultaneously in the dif- 
ferent counties of the Colony, eventuating in the 
historic Provincial Convention which met in Phila- 
delphia on July 15 of the same year. This latter 
body recommended a general Congress, denounced 
the Boston Port Bill as unconstitutional, and declar- 
ed their willingness and determination to make any 
sacrifice necessary for the vindication and support 
of American rights. Mr. Irvine was a representa- 
tive from Carlisle in this convention until January 
10, 1776, at which time he was authorized by Con- 
gress to organize and command a regiment of the 
Pennsylvania Line. The appointee was a man of 
rapid movements and ripe executive capacity, and, 
in less than five months from the date of his origi- 
nal instructions, raised, clothed, and equipped the 6th 
Battalion of State troops, and was at once ordered 
with his command to join the army in Canada. He 
immediately marched to the mouth of the Sorrel 
river, and on June 10, 1776, united with General 
Thompson's brigade in an unsuccessful attempt to 
surprise the vanguard of the British forces station- 
ed at Trois Kivieres. In this gallant but unfortu- 
nate enterprise the commanding general. Colonel 
Irvine, and about two hundred subordinate officers 



120 Continental Sketches. 

and privates, who constituted the very head and 
front of the assaulting party, were captured and 
promptly forwarded to Quebec. Colonel Irvine was 
released on parole, August 3, and, returning home, 
made every possible effort to secure an exchange, 
but owing to some misunderstanding between the 
two governments or their agents, this was not ac- 
complished until May 6, 1778, a period of almost 
two years. Immediately after his exchange he re - 
joined the army, and resumed command of his gal- 
lant old regiment. On May 12, 1779, he was ap- 
pointed a brigadier-general, and was assigned to 
command the 2d Brigade of the Pennsylvania Line, 
a corps of great and merited distinction. In July, 
of the same year, he was a member of the court- 
martial that tried General Charles Lee. He was 
also selected as one of the members of a court-mar- 
tial to try General Arnold, but was objected to by 
that officer. General Irvine commanded his brigade 
in the unsuccessful attack of General Wayne, at 
Bull's Ferry, July 21-22, 1780, his command bat- 
tling with a fiery heroism on that memorable occa- 
sion. He continued in charge of his fighting bri- 
gade until the fall of 1781, when he was detached 
to assume command at Pittsburgh, in defence of the 
Northwestern frontier, then menaced by a combined 
British and Indian invasion. He continued to dis- 
charge the onerous duties of his responsible position 
until October 1, 1783, some time after hostilities had 
terminated. After eight years of sanguinary and 



General William Irvine. 121 

doubtful war, the bright sunlight of a joyous peace 
streamed through the dark, murky clouds on an im- 
poverished and bankrupt infant Eepublic. 
** Were half the power that fills the world with terror, 
Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, 
Given to redeem the human mind from error. 
There were no need of arsenals and forts." 

The appoinment of General Irvine to the com- 
mand of the Pittsburgh district was a gratefal trib- 
ute to his sound judgment and executive ability. 
The elements he had to control were inharmonious 
and almost revolutionary. The frontier volunteer 
forces had been treated shabbily in regard to their 
pay, clothing, and even their subsistence. This was 
one prolific element of discord, and a very danger- 
ous one. In addition, a bitter controversy was going 
on between the States of Virginia and Pennsylvania 
in relation to certain boundary lines, and this diffi- 
culty was gradually assuming alarming proportions, 
exciting bad blood, and threatening the most disas- 
trous consequences. Indian difficulties were also 
numerous and complicated, and that general lawless- 
ness and mobocracy so characteristic of all border 
life was rampant and almost unmanageable. All 
these combined drawbacks, amply sufficient to stifle 
the efforts of ordinary administrative ability, were 
manipulated and controlled by General Irvine with 
consummate prudence and great skill, and his almost 
superhuman efforts were fruitful in good, practical 
results. 

In 1786, at the request of the Pennsylvania troops, 



122 Continental Sketches. 

he was appointed by the State authorities an agent 
under "an act for directing the mode of distribut- 
ing the donation lands promised to the troops of the 
Commonwealth," the duties of which delicate posi- 
tion he discharged with honorable fidelity and im- 
partiality. About this time his suggestive mind in- 
dicated to the ruling powers of the State the great 
importance of acquiring by purchase from the United 
States a small tract of land ceded by the State of 
New York, and which, from its peculiar shape, was 
called the Triangle^ thus giving to Pennsylvania an 
outlet on Lake Erie. In 1787 he took his seat as a 
member of Congress under the Confederation, and 
was associated with Hayne, of South Carohna, and 
Gilman, of New Hampshire, as a committee to ad- 
just and settle between the several States certain finan- 
cial difSiculties created by the war. These were 
becoming quite complicated, and even at that early 
day were begetting sectional feelings and local pre- 
judices, threatening disintegration, perhaps domestic 
revolutions. Through the instrumentality of this 
judiciously-selected committee, all conflicting claims 
were compromised and harmonized on a basis satis- 
factory to all the claimants, and the tottering infant 
Eepublic fast assumed the full proportions of a well- 
developed manhood. General Irvine was subse- 
quently a member of the first State Convention to 
revise the constitution of Pennsylvania. As indi- 
cating the strong anti-monarchical feeling of that 
period, this grave Convention stripped the executive 



General William Irvine. 123 

department of tlie State government of almost all 
its powers, privileges, and patronage. As the nat- 
ural sequence of such a heated and inflammatory 
course they ran to the other extreme, and gave to 
the legislative department a fearful excess of power, 
thus endangering the usefulness and stability they 
aimed to strengthen and perpetuate. He resumed 
his seat in Congress in the session of 1793-5. In 
1794 he took command of the Pennsylvania troops 
to quell the "Whiskey Insurrection" in the western 
counties of the State, where the powers of the Na- 
tional Government were assailed and menaced. In 
March, 1801, he was appointed by President Jeffer- 
son superintendent of military stores in Philadelphia, 
and during his tenure of office was president of the 
"State Society of Cincinnati." He died at Phila- 
delphia, July 29, 1804, aged 63. He had two brothers 
attached to the Kevolutionary forces. Captain An- 
drew Irvine, of Wayne's Brigade, and Dr. Matthew 
Irvine, of "Lee's Legion." He had four sons sub- 
sequently connected with the United States army. 
In glancing briefly at the salient points in the life of 
General Irvine, one cannot fail to admire his in- 
flexible integrity and his very great executive ability. 
His judgment was never led captive by the glamour 
of speculation, nor was he a worshipper of fine-spun 
theories. A plain, practical, good man, he had the 
supreme respect of his superior officers in whatever 
sphere he was called to act, and what he did for his 
country and for posterity was always done well. 



MAJOR GENERAL MUHLENBERG. 



A Name most Intimately and Honorably connected 
not only with the Colonial but the subsequent His- 
tory of Pennsylvania — Young Peter as a Jolly 
High Private in a Crack Regiment of Imperial 
Dragoons — Ordained for Service in the Church — 
The Clerical Robes exchanged for the Uniform of a 
Soldier — His First Campaign in Georgia^ South 
Carolina^ &c. 

THE name of Muhlenberg is most intimately 
and honorably identified, not only with the 
Colonial, but the subsequent history of Pennsylva- 
nia. No family within the realm of the Common- 
wealth can present a more formidable exhibit of 
actual worth. For almost a century its representa- 
tive members figured conspicuously in the various 
spheres of theology, science, and politics. Their 
name and fame were not the result of a combination 
of fortuitous circumstances, nor were they reared on 
the ephemeral base of mere crude wealth. Their 
leading members were well-educated men, of strong 
moral stamina and irreproachable integrity. Their 
immediate ancestor, Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, 
D. D., the venerable patriarch of the Lutheran 

(124) 



Major General Muhlenberg. 125 

Churcli in Americp., was born in Eimbeck, Hanover, 
September 6, 1711, and emigrated to America in 
1742, as a missionary to Philadelphia. He shortly 
afterwards removed to the Trappe, Montgomery 
county, Pa., and there organized the first Lutheran 
synod of America — that of Pennsylvania. Dr. Muh- 
lenberg was a highly accomplished gentleman of 
chaste literary taste, a profound theologian, and for 
twenty years was a valued contributor to the Hal- 
lische Nachrichten^ at Halle, and the various literary 
and scientific journals of his adopted country. 

Gotthilf Henry Ernst Muhlenberg, D. D., a son of 
Henry Melchoir, was a distinguished scientist, an 
eloquent pulpit orator, a member of some of the 
prominent societies of France and Germany, but 
was better known in this country as a botanist. 
His chief works in this, his favorite department, 
were " Catologus Plantarum," " Gramina Americas 
Septentrionalis," and "Flora Lancastriensis." He 
lived in quiet elegance in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 
Another son, Frederick Augustus, was a man of 
fine natural ability, a polished speaker, and a supe- 
rior presiding officer. He officiated as a minister in 
New York until the British forces entered that city. 
He was subsequently a member of the old Congress 
of 1779-80, member and Speaker of the Pennsylva- 
nia Legislature in 1781-4, afterwards State treas- 
urer, and president of the convention that ratified 
the United States Constitution. He was also a 
member of Congress from 1789 to 1797, and pre- 



126 Continental Sketches. 

siding officer of tlie First and Third Congresses. 
His casting vote carried Jay's treaty into effect. 
Henry A. Muhlenberg, clergyman and statesman, 
was a son of the Eev. Ernst, and for several years 
officiated as a clergyman at Beading, Pennsylvania ; 
was in Congress from 1829 to 1838; and was the 
candidate of the Democratic party in Pennsylvania 
for Governor in 1835, but was unsuccessful. In 
1837 he declined the Secretaryship of the navy, 
also the mission to Eussia, but accepted the position 
of minister to Austria, which was tendered to him 
in 1838. Major General Peter Muhlenberg, the 
eldest of the three sons of Henry Melchoir, was 
born October 1, 1746, at the Trappe, Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania. The three sons were sent to 
Germany to receive all the advantages of a thor- 
ough and complete education. The early theologi- 
cal training which young Peter had received around 
the hearthstone of his gifted father was likely to 
prove an injudicious and unremunerative invest- 
ment. He soon became tired of monotonous class- 
ics and German metaphysics, absconded from Halle, 
and for over a year was a jolly high private in a 
crack regiment of Imperial dragoons. His fast life, 
however, was brief, for he soon recrossed the ocean, 
and returning to the " still waters and green pas- 
tures " of the Trappe, received a solid education at 
home, and was prepared for service in the Swedish 
Lutheran Church. His denomination deeming Epis- 
copal ordination necessary, he went to England in 



Major General Muhlenberg. 127 

1772, with Bishop White, then also a candidate for 
holy orders, and they were ordained at the same 
time by the Bishop of London. Eeturning once 
more to his native land, he officiated as an Episco- 
pal minister for several years at Woodstock, Vir- 
ginia. At the inauguration of the Eevolution he 
exchanged his clerical robes for the uniform of a 
patriot soldier. On entering his pulpit for the last 
time, he told his parishioners that there was a time 
for all things — a time to preach and a time to fight 
— and now was the time to fight. After services 
he gracefully threw back his clerical robes, display- 
ing a full uniform. He then calmly and deliberate- 
ly read his commission as colonel, and ordered some 
drummer boys he held in reserve to beat up for 
recruits. The whole affair was theatrical and some- 
what sensational, but it had a magical effect, and the 
honest parishioners of Woodstock rallied in large 
numbers to the standard of the gallant young com- 
mander. They formed a prominent element in what 
was known as the German Eegiment, or Eighth 
Virginia, a corps eminently distinguished during 
the Revolution for its dash and gallantry. His 
first campaigns were in Georgia and South Caro- 
lina; and his masterly skill and undaunted bravery 
in their management elicited the highest commenda- 
tion from General Washington. Indeed, young 
Muhlenberg was a particular favorite of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, the latter having great confidence 
in his coolness, decision, and valor. In February, 



128 Continental Sketches. 

1777, he was appointed a brigadier-general in the 
Eevokitionary army, and in the autumn of that 
year actively and valiantly participated in the mem- 
orable battles of Brandywine and Germantown. In 
the campaign of 1778, he was present at Monmouth, 
doing good service, and in 1779, commanded the re- 
serve at the storming of Stony Point. In 1780, 
when General Leslie invaded Virginia, Muhlenberg 
opposed him, holding at that time the chief com- 
mand. When the subsequent movement was made 
by Generals Arnold and Phillip, he was attached to 
the immediate command of Baron Steuben, and 
when Lord Cornwallis entered Virginia our gallant 
young Pennsylvanian was next in command to Gen- 
eral Lafayette. He was also present at the historic 
battle of Yorktown, commanding on that occasion 
the dashing First Brigade of Light Infantry. It 
has been asserted with some degree of confidence 
that it was General Muhlenberg who^commanded 
the American storming party at Yorktown, the 
honor of which position has been attributed by dif- 
ferent historiographers of the Ee volution to another 
person. Be this as it may, there is no disputation 
as to his dauntless courage and the distinguished 
part he played at the siege of Yorktown. At the 
termination of the long and eventful war, when its 
dark shadows were transformed into streaming sun- 
shine, and peace with her olive wand gave safety, 
strength, and glory to the new-born Eepublic, our 
bronzed young hero, who had exchanged the pulpit 



Major General Muhlenberg. 129 

for the camp, sheathed his trusty sword without a 
stain of dishonor upon its bright blade. At the 
disbanding of the forces he wore the passants of a 
major general, and no knight of the olden time, 
with his shattered lance and splintered spear, was 
more justly entitled to meritorious recognition and 
promotion. 

Peace being formally announced, General Muh- 
lenberg returned to his native State, and with that 
remarkable power of adaptation for which Ameri- 
cans are proverbial, deserted the standard of Mars 
and devoted his energies and talents to the practical 
matters of quiet civil life. Men of his intellectual cal- 
ibre, however, are always restive in whatever sphere 
their lot is cast, and are seldom contented with 
a reserve position in the midst of exciting events. 
They yearn "for other worlds to conquer," and are 
never followers, but always agressive leaders. Gen- 
eral Muhlenberg immediately entered into political 
life, and successively filled several very high and im- 
portant State and National positions. He was first 
elected a member of the Supreme Executive Coun- 
cil of the State, and subsequently, in 1785, was 
chosen Yice-President of the State at the time Ben- 
jamin Franklin was President. On the adoption of 
the Federal Constitution he was elected a member 
of the First Congress, and was afterwards re-elected 
a member of the Third and also of the Sixth Con- 
gress. In 1797 he was appointed a Presidential 
elector, and in 1801 was elected United States Sena- 
s' 



130 Continental Sketches. 

tor to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
The latter position, however, he resigned in 1802, 
and was appointed by Mr. Jefferson to the more lu- 
crative, but perhaps less honorable, position of super- 
visor of revenue for the district of Pennsylvania. 
In 1805 he was appointed collector of the port of 
Philadelphia, which position he held at the time of 
his death, which occurred on the 1st day of October, 
1807, in the sixty-second year of his age, at his 
country seat, near the Schuylkill, in Montgomery 
county, Pa. General Muhlenberg, like the other 
leading members of that prominent family, was a 
strong adherent of the Democratic party, and al- 
though a severe partisan and an unflinching personal 
and political friend of Mr. Jefferson, was as incor- 
ruptible in public as he was honest in private life. 
He discharged his duties well in all the numerous 
military and political distinctions heaped upon him, 
and was as firm in the Cabinet as he was rehant in 
the field. 



ANDREW PORTER IN PEACE AND WAR. 



A Boy too fond of Books and Figures to be useful in 
any way^ even as an Apprentice — Failures at the 
Carpenter^ s Bench and in Agricultural Pursuits — 
The MarDs Army Record — Services in the Marine 
and Artillery Corps — After the Revolution^ dec, &c. 

ANDREW PORTER, the subject of the present 
brief memoir, was born in old Worcester 
township, Montgomery county. Pa., on the 24th of 
September, 1743. Gifted by nature with a strong, 
vigorous intellect, and a clear, discriminating mind, 
he acquired through life quite an enviable reputa- 
tion as a scientist, as well as an honorable record as 
a soldier. His early educational advantages were 
limited, but, by untiring industry and indomitable 
energy, he triumphed over all obstacles in his path, 
and secured a success seldom attained by those who 
are favored by more auspicious surroundings. His 
father, Mr. Robert Porter, emigrated to Pennsylva- 
nia in early life, and for many years was a respect- 
able farmer of Montgomery county, the possessor of 
a numerous family and slender revenues. The old 
gentleman determined to make a carpenter of his 
son, and to accomplish this placed him in charge of 

(131) 



132 Continental Sketches. 

a respectable and efficient master-meclianic in the 
neighborhood. In a few months his employer re- 
ported him as entirely unfit for mechanical pursuits, 
"too fond of books and figures to be useful in any 
way, even as an apprentice." The young lad had 
evidently great mathematical talent, and observing 
a sun-dial in the neighborhood, at once determined 
to make one like it. He went to an adjacent soap- 
stone quarry, and having selected the proper mate- 
rial, completed a very handsome dial, but in doing 
so ruined the tools of his worthy employer. This 
brought his apprenticeship to an inglorious termi- 
nation, and he was banished from the shop as gross- 
ly inefficient and incorrigible. He next turned his 
atteTition to quiet agricultural pursuits, succeeding 
about as well in his new sphere as he did at the car- 
penter's bench. Sighing for other worlds to con- 
quer, and yearning for the dignity and autocracy of 
a country pedagogue, his desponding father gave 
him one more chance. He opened a school in the 
neighborhood, and the effort was a financial success. 
In his leisure hours he devoted himself assiduously 
to the study of mathematics, his favorite pursuit. 
Hearing that the celebrated Dr. Rittenhouse was 
spending some time at his country seat, not far dis- 
tant, young Porter paid him a visit to borrow a work 
on conic sections. The Doctor, after making some 
inquiries about his primary education, pleasantly 
told him he feared he could not comprehend the 
work he desired to borrow. In the conversation 



Andeew Porter. 133 

that followed, Dr. Eittenhoase was fairly astounded 
at the proficiency of his youthful visitor in the 
abstruse labyrinth of mathematics, and advised him 
not to bury himself in the country, but go at 
once and open a mathematical school in Philadelphia. 
He carried out the suggestion of his learned friend, 
and, removing to Philadelphia in 1767, opened an 
English and mathematical school, which he managed 
and controlled with much reputation and success 
until 1776. In that memorable and historic year he 
bade a final adieu to his peaceful and congenial avo- 
cation, and went forth to fight the battles of his 
country. During his long residence in Philadelphia 
he was an intimate friend of Doctors Eush, Eitten- 
house, Ewing, Wilhamson, and other distinguished 
scientific men, building for himself in the mean- 
while an enviable reputation as a profound mathe- 
matician and an accurate astronomer. In 1776 he ex- 
changed his quiet literary life for the eventful de- 
velopments of a military career, and was immedi- 
ately commissioned by Congress a captain of marines, 
and ordered on board the frigate Effingham. At this 
time his school contained over a hundred pupils, the 
income from which enabled him to support well his 
five little children, their mother having recently 
died. No selfish or pecuniary consideration, how- 
ever, could restrain him from the post when duty 
called. Not liking the marine service on account of 
its circumscribed limits of action, he was soon 
transferred to the artillery corps, for which, from his 



134 Continental Sketches. 

previous education, lie was better adapted. He 
served in this latter sphere with consummate skill 
and bravery until the disbanding of the army, being 
promoted to a majority, April 19, 1781, and subse- 
quently to the colonelcy of the 4th Pennsylvania 
Artillery. During his military career he participa- 
ted in the historic battles of Trenton, Princeton, 
Brandywine, and Germantown. In the latter action 
his command fought with a valor approaching to 
desperation, hurling the invaders back 

"As waves before a vessel under sail," 
losing fearfully, however, in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners. At Trenton he received in person on the 
field the warm commendation of General Washington 
for his masterly skill and undaunted courage. 

In April, 1779, he was detached with his com- 
pany to join General Clinton's brigade in the opera- 
tions under General Sullivan against the Indians. 
He left the grand park of artillery at Pluckemin, 
May 6, 1779, and on the 13th arrived in Albany, 
where he joined Clinton, with whom he proceed- 
ed to the Mohawk river. The troops were ra- 
pidly marched to the headquarters of Otsego Lake, 
and it was here that Colonel Porter suggested to 
his superior officers the idea of damming the out- 
let of the Lake to enable the forces to be trans- 
ported by boats to Tioga Point, where they were to 
meet General Sullivan's army. The experiment was 
successful, and a union of forces being consummated, 
the battle of August 29, and the subsequent destruc- 



Andrew Porter. 135 

tion of Indian towns, cornfields, &c., accomplsihed 
tlie main object of the expedition, and the artillery 
rejoined the army proper, and wintered at Morris - 
town. "When the siege of Yorktown was deter- 
mined upon, Colonel Porter was ordered to proceed 
to Philadelphia and superintend the Government 
laboratory there, at which various kinds of ammu- 
nition were being prepared for the contemplated 
siege. With considerable warmth and zeal he pro- 
tested against being removed from active duty in 
the field. His objections were silenced, however, 
by the courteous, plausible arguments of his Com- 
mander-in-Chief. " You say," he remarked, " that 
you are desirous of being placed in that situation in 
which you can render your country the most effi- 
cient services. Our success depends much on the 
manner in which our cartridges, bombs, and matches 
are prepared. The eye of science is required to 
superintend their preparation ; and, if the informa- 
tion of General Knox, who knows you well and in- 
timately, is to be depended upon, there is no officer 
in the army better qualified than yourself for" the 
station I have assigned you." 

The grand object of the war having been attain- 
ed, and his trenchant blade honorably sheathed. 
Colonel Porter, in 1783, retired to private life. The 
trustees of the University of Pennsylvania tendered 
him the position of professor of mathematics in 
that venerable institution, which he respectfully de- 
clined. He was subsequently appointed by the 



136 Continental Sketches. 

Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania a com- 
missioner to run the State boundary lines between 
Pennsylvania and the several States of Ohio, Vir- 
ginia, and New York, a work for which he was 
most admirably quahfied, and in which he was 
materially assisted by Drs. Eittenhouse and Ewing, 
Bishop Madison, General Clinton, and other distin- 
guished gentlemen of recognized mathematical and 
scientific attainments. In 1788 he retired to his 
farm near the place of his nativity, in Montgomery 
county, Pa., where he continued to reside until 
1809. In 1800 he succeeded Peter Muhlenberg as 
Major General of the Pennsylvania Militia, and in 
1809 Governor Snyder appointed him Surveyor 
General of the State, which position he held until 
his decease, November 16, 1813. As Surveyor 
General he exhibited great capacity and executive 
ability, bringing order out of chaos; the books, 
papers, and archives of the office being in a sadly de- 
moralized condition when he assumed control of its 
management. During 1812 and the early part of 
1813 he declined the situations of Brigadier General 
in the United States army, and Secretary of War ; 
both of which positions were respectfully tendered 
him by President Madison. General Porter was a 
man of great personal popularity, decided positivism, 
and strong prejudices. In stature he was above the 
medium size, rather inclined to corpulency, and his 
extended army career imparted to him a proud, 
military air and manner, which he carried with him 



Andrew Porter. 137 

through life. His morals were unexceptionably 
pure, his friendships warm and sincere, and his en- 
mities severe and acrimonious. Of his sons, the 
Hon. David R Porter was Governor of Pennsylva- 
nia from 1889 to 1845 ; the Hon. George B. Porter 
was Governor of Michigan Territory from 1831 to 
1884, and was long recognized as one of its 
leading business men and Democratic politicians. 
Another son was the Hon. James Madison Porter, 
late of Easton, Pa., who was appointed Secretary of 
War during the Administration of Mr. Tyler, but 
whose nomination was rejected by the Senate. The 
latter gentleman was a volunteer in the war of 1812 
-14 ; and a leading member of the Pennsylvania 
Constitutional Convention of 1888. 



GEN. JOSEPH REED, OFINEW JERSEY. 



A Graduate of Princeton College at the age of six- 
teen — First a Friend of Reconciliation^ and next 
a zealous^ impetuous Advocate of Unconditional 
Separation from the Mother Country — One of the 
Famous Committee of Correspondence^ soon after- 
wards President of the State Convention^ and then 
Member of the Continental Congress. 

A GALLANT compeer of Wayne, Cadwalader, 
and Mifflin, aggregating a military represen- 
tation highly creditable to our Colonial history, was 
General Joseph Reed. Born in New Jersey, August 
27, 1741, he enjoyed superior facilities for cultivat- 
ing his literary tastes, and in 1757, when only six- 
teen years old, he graduated creditably at Prince- 
ton College. His transition from the classic halls of 
old " Nassau " to the law-office of Richard Stock- 
ton, Esq., was a fortunate and propitious move for 
young Reed. Mr. Stockton belonged to an old and 
respectable family of New Jersey, was a man of 
letters, possessed of superior genius, highly cultiva- 
ted, a gifted attorney, and an honorable man. In this 
position he remained for some two years, pursuing 
his legal studies with unremitting energy and zeal. 
He afterwards proseoated his professional education 

(138) 



General Joseph Reed. 139 

in England at the Temple. When our Colonial diffi- 
culties were inaugurated by the passage of the Si^amp 
Act, young Eeed promptly decided to return to his 
native land and identify himself with her very 
doubtful future. He married Miss Esther De Bordt, 
the daughter of an eminent London merchant, who, 
prior to the Revolution, represented the provincial 
interests of Massachusetts in that city. On his re- 
turn to America he settled in Philadelphia, where 
he practiced his profession with eminent success, 
and took an active part in the stormy military and 
political developments of that particular period. 

He was an original friend of reconciliation, but 
when he discovered that this could not be accom- 
plished without a total sacrifice of everything like 
national honor, he abandoned the logic of peaceful 
compromise, and soon became a zealous, impetuous 
advocate of unconditional separation from the mother 
country. At an early age we find him the recipient 
of many official positions of honor and trust in his 
adopted State and city. In 1774 he was appointed 
one of the famous committee of correspondence, soon 
afterwards president of the State Convention, and 
subsequently a member of the Continental Congress . 
At the opening of active military operations he 
closed his law-office, forfeited a lucrative practice in 
Philadelphia, and started at once for camp at Cam- 
bridge, where he was appointed to the honorable 
position of aid-de-camp and confidential secretary 
to General Washington. Although a volunteer aid, 



140 Continental Sketches. 

he exhibited in his new sphere, during the whole of 
that memorable campaign, signal personal bravery, 
united with great military genius. His conduct 
was keenly appreciated by Washington, and in 1776, 
at the opening of the campaign, on the promotion 
of General Gates, our gallant young Pennsylvanian, 
by the special order of Washington, was advanced 
to the position of Adjutant-General. His local 
knowledge of the topography of certain portions of 
New Jersey made him very useful during the cam- 
paign, particularly in the skirmish at Trenton and 
the battle of Princeton. Perhaps with none of his 
subordinates was Washington personally and soci- 
ally more intimate than with young Eeed, The 
latter, at the close of this historic and depressing 
campaign, resigned his position as Adjutant Gen- 
eral, and was immediately appointed a general 
officer, with the view of giving him the entire 
cavalry command. This scheme, however, was 
frustrated by a combination of unfortunate circum- 
stances incident to that period of the War, and for 
which he was in no way responsible. General Eeed 
was as pertinacious in his military as he was inde- 
fatigable in his civil duties, and from the entrance 
of the British forces into Pennsylvania until the 
close of the campaign, in 1777, he was seldom ab- 
sent an hour from his post of duty. He participat- 
ed with great credit in the battle of Germantown, 
and at Whitemarsh rendered efficient aid to General 
Potter in the formation of his raw militia lines. 



General Joseph Eeed. 141 

In 1778, lie was appointed a member of Congress, 
and signed the articles of confederation. During 
this year the three British commissioners. Governor 
Johnstone, Lord Carlisle, and the Hon. Mr. Eden ar- 
rived in this country on a pacific mission. Their 
object was to secure peace, either by diplomacy or 
by duplicity. The principal member of the com- 
mission, Governor Johnstone, unfortunately descend- 
ed from the high sphere of his original position, 
and attempted by indirect bribery to secure advan- 
tages he failed to obtain by legitimate treaty. He 
privately addressed certain letters to Kobert Morris, 
Francis Dana, Henry Laurens, and Joseph Eeed, 
offering them, in cunningly devised terms, great 
pecuniary advantage and royal preferment if they 
would consent to certain propositions. 

These advances, appealing to cupidity, avarice, 
and social ambition, were couched in language more 
becoming the rank and file of the modern Congres- 
sional lobby, and unworthy a dignified commission 
representing the interests of a substantial and vene- 
rable monarchy. Indeed, ten thousand pounds 
sterhng were almost directly offered to General 
Eeed, coupled with glittering promises of high civil 
distinction, if he would co-operate in compelling a 
speedy submission of the Colonies. He, however, 
spurned the sordid proposition with merited con- 
tempt, declaring, in his memorable language, " that 
he was not worth purchasing^ hut^ such as he was^ the 
King of Great Britain was not_ rich enough to buy 



142 Continental Sketches. 

^?m." The whole affair was referred to Congress, 
and a resolution was speedily passed by that body, 
reviewing all the facts, and conclnding in view of 
the same to have no further commnnication or cor- 
respondence with the redoubtable Johnstone. The 
latter, on his return to England, in open Parliament 
disclaimed ever having made any improper over- 
tures to Eeed or any other American citizen. In 
consequence of this flat denial Eeed soon published 
a pamphlet giving a minute narration of the whole 
afiair, reiterating and very satisfactorily proving 
his former statement. This document was exten- 
sively circulated in this country and England, ex- 
citing much angry comment and discussion. 

General Eeed was elected in 1778 president of the 
Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, which 
position he honorably filled for three successive 
years, being elected annually. At that time ruth- 
less partisanship was rampant, threatening the de- 
struction of the whole State government. Under 
his gubernatorial management violent commotions, 
outbreaks, and almost positive insurrection were 
common and lamentable occurrences. The destinies 
of the Colony, however, were in the hands of a 
leader of clear head, strong arm, and iron nerve, 
and for his judicious control of these disorganizing 
elements he received a vote of thanks from the Leg- 
islature. During these exciting crises, when skill- 
fully devised arguments and influences were adroitly 
created and used to cause a defection in the quota of 



Geneeal Joseph Eeed. 143 

Pennsylvania, Governor Eeed displayed great tact 
and administrative capacity. Witli disinterested 
zeal and firmness of decision commensxirate with tlie 
importance of the occasion, he strenuously labored 
to bring the revolters back to their posts of duty 
and a keen realization of their country's actual dan- 
ger. His whole career as president of the Colony 
was characterized by marked ability, amid many 
discouraging and gloomy circumstances. He was 
positive in his official suggestions and recommenda- 
tions, was in favor of a totaj demolition of the pro- 
prietary laws, was antagonistic to slavery, and 
favored a rapid, vigorous prosecution of the war. 
His knowledge of law was of great advantage to 
him in the comparatively crude condition of our 
Colonial government at that time. Indeed, in re- 
viewing in detail the official acts of his State Pres- 
idential career we find very much to commend and 
little to deprecate. The surrounding atmosphere was 
poisoned by political broils, filled with the barbed 
arrows of personal spleen, occasioned by a division in 
public sentiment as to the origin and management of 
the w^ar. Feuds, cabals, and conspiracies were rife, 
and required the hand of a skillful manager to soothe 
and quell them. After the close of his term. Gover- 
nor Eeed cheerfully retired from a position which had 
caused him much personal trouble and annoyance, 
and which he accepted only from a sense of positive 
duty. His military career was more brilliant than 
is generally supposed. He had three horses shot 



144 Continental Sketches. 

under him during the war, one at Brandy wine, ano- 
ther at the spirited skirmish of Whitemarsh, and 
still another at the thrilling battle of Monmouth. 
He participated in numerous engagements in the 
northern and eastern sections of the country, but 
fortunately never was wounded. No stronger evi- 
dence of his actual worth can be adduced than his 
intimate, confidential relations during the whole war 
with such illustrious generals as Washington, 
Wayne, Greene, Steuben, and Lafayette. The 
friendship of General Greene for him was particular- 
ly marked, and the biographer of that distinguished 
man says: "Among the many inestimable friends 
who attached themselves to him during his military 
career, there was no one whom General Greene prized 
more, or more justly, than the late Governor Keed of 
Pennsylvania. It was before this gentleman had 
immortalized himself by his celebrated reply to the 
agent of corruption that these two distinguished 
patriots had begun to feel for each other the sympa- 
thy of congenial souls. Mr. Eeed had accompanied 
General Washington to Boston, when he first took 
command of the American army. There he be- 
came acquainted with General Greene, and, as was 
almost invariably the case with those who became 
acquainted with him and had hearts to acknowledge 
his worth, a friendship ensued which lasted through 
their Hves." 

By arduous application to his varied civil and 
military duties General Keed's health was seriously 



General Joseph Eeed. 145 

impaired. In 1784 he visited England to recuper- 
ate his failing strength, but without the desired ef- 
fect. He died March 3, 1785, at the very early age 
of 43. His funeral was largely attended by the 
citizens of Philadelphia, the President of the Colony, 
the Executive Council, and the Speaker and mem- 
bers of the General Assembly. In private life he 
was a man of pure morals, graceful culture, fer- 
vent and faithful in all his social and domestic at- 
tachments. 

He clung to his country through doubt, danger, 
and distress, until she reached the threshold of per- 
manent security, and will always be remembered as 
a gallant, faithful young officer of our primitive his- 
tory, honest, prompt, and manly in the discharge of 
ev^ery official duty. 
7 



GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG, JR. 



Sterling Traits blended with Erratic Positivism — 
The Possessor of the Light Accomplishments of a 
Society Man coupled with the more Severe Elements 
of a Forcible^ Elegant Writer^ and a Politico- 
Statesman of no Mean Pretensions — Aide-de- Gamp 
to the Gallant Hugh Mercer — On the Staff of 
General Gates — 71ie First Civic Office held by 
Armstrong, &c. 

THE character of General John Armstrong, Jr., 
presents many points calculated to invoke 
criticism and challenge admiration. Many sterling 
traits were blended with his erratic positivism, and 
for almost half a century he was prominently iden- 
tified with the leading military and political events 
of his country. At times, on the swelling tide of 
unbounded success, he was the recipient of high 
civil and military positions, and soon after, perhaps, 
was submerged many fathoms deep by the fickle 
waves of popular favor. He possessed in no ordi- 
nary degree what might be termed the light accom- 
plishments of a society man, coupled with the more 
severe elements of a forcible, elegant writer, and 
was a politico -statesman of no mean pretensions. 
General Armstrong was born at Carlisle, Pa., No- 

(146) 



General John Akmstrong, Jr. 147 

vember 25, 1758, and belonged to a family of strong 
local influence, marked intellectuality, and high, so- 
cial status. His father. General John Armstrong, 
Sr., also a native of Carlisle, possessed considerable 
military genius, and served with great distinction 
in the French and Indian wars. In 1756, as colo- 
nel of the combined provincial forces of Pennsylva- 
nia, he headed an expedition against the Indians at 
Kittanning, Pa., destroyed the entire settlement, and 
captured large quantities of stores and supplies 
sent there by the French for the use of their native 
allies. In return for his successful efforts in this 
dashing sortie the citizens of the corporation of 
Philadelphia presented him with a vote of thanks, 
a medal, and a costly silver tea service. He pos- 
sessed, in a great degree, the confidence of the pro- 
prietors of Pennsylvania, and his opinion on Indian 
affairs was always considered high authority. On 
March 1, 1776, he was appointed Brigadier-General 
in the Continental army, and during the long-con- 
tinuance of hostilities gained an ehviable reputation 
in military circles, doing valiant service in the de- 
fence of Fort Moultrie, and also at the battles of 
Brandywine and Germantown. In the latter en- 
gagement he commanded the Pennsylvania militia, 
having left the army proper, April 4, 1777, on ac- 
count of some real or imaginary grievance involved 
in the question of rank, that prolific source of army 
broils in all ages and in all countries. He served 
as a member of Congress in the session of 1778-80, 



148 Continental Sketches. 

and also in 1787-8, never acquiring, however, a 
very marked reputation as a legislator. General 
John Armstrong, Jr., the subject of this sketch, 
while a student at Princeton College, volunteered to 
serve his country at the early age of eighteen, and 
forthwith enrolled himself as a member of Potter's 
Pennsylvania Eegiment. Shortly after his enlist- 
ment he was appointed aide-de-camp to the gallant 
General Hugh Mercer, the latter officer having 
served with distinction under the young appointee's 
father at the battle of Kittanning, in 1756, to which 
we have briefly alluded. At that period General 
Mercer was a citizen of Pennsylvania, although he 
was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, having served 
as a surgeon in the memorable battle of CuUoden. 
For his good deeds at Kittanning, Philadelphia pre- 
sented him, also, with a gold medal. In 1763 he 
removed to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he 
practiced his profession with great success until the 
inauguration of the Kevolution. It was on the 
staff of this distinguished gentleman and soldier 
that young Armstrong initiated his military career, 
and it was in the arms of his faithful young aide- 
de-camp that the gallant Hugh Mercer fell, mortally 
wounded, on the fatal morning of January 3, 1777, 
near Stony Brook, adjacent to Princeton, N. J. 
Mercer survived his wounds about one week, and 
was buried in Princeton, his remains being subse- 
quently removed for re-interment to Philadelphia. 
Armstrong at this time was only 19 years old, and 



General John Armstrong, Jr. 149 

incidentally was thrown into company with the dis- 
tinguished General Gates, who was so pleased with 
the vivacious manner and captivating conversa- 
tional powers of the young lad that he promptly 
invited him to become a member of his military 
family, which position was readily accepted. He 
continued on the staff* of General Gates, with the 
rank of major, until the close of the war, and was 
always a warm personal friend and devoted admirer 
of his illustrious chief. On the termination of hos- 
tilities, the grand result was marred in part by the 
very great dissatisfaction exhibited by honorably- 
discharged officers and men on account of the non- 
payment of arrears justly due them for services 
rendered in the field. The original spark of com- 
plaint was soon fanned into a threatening blaze, and 
required careful management to prevent its becom- 
ing most destructive and disastrous. The oversight 
in securing the proper kind of legislation was as 
much perhaps the result of Congressional neglect 
and carelessness as anything else; but no logic 
could quell the angry passions of the excited com- 
plainants, whose imperious demands were fast be- 
coming dangerous and revolutionary. At this criti- 
cal moment young Armstrong became a sort of 
representative of the disorganizers, and, at the re- 
quest of several officers of high rank, he prepared 
the celebrated warlike manifesto known as the 
"Newburg Letters," which created at the time a 
profound sensation in official circles, and threatened 



150 Continental Sketches. 

to produce much mischief. They were written with 
vigor and ability, were inflammatory and impracti- 
cable in spirit, and, while they were approved by a 
limited few, were very generally condemned by the 
best men of the period. Washington interposed by 
a counter-address, couched in the plain language of 
patriotism and common sense, thus effectually cor- 
recting public sentiment and re-establishing public 
confidence. The first civil ofl&ce held by Gen. Arm- 
strong was that of Secretary of Pennsylvania, during 
the administration of Dr. Benjamin Franklin ; and 
some time afterwards he became a member of the 
Old Congress. In 1789 he married a sister of Chan- 
cellor Livingston, of N'ew York, a charming and 
cultivated lady, identified with the most refined cir- 
cles of metropolitan society. He retired to an ex- 
tensive landed estate in Duchess county, New York, 
where for several years he lived in quiet elegance, 
ostensibly an agriculturist, but in reality devoting 
the bulk of his time to literary and scientific pur- 
suits. In 1800 he was elected a United States 
Senator from the State of New York, by an almost 
unanimous vote of both houses of the Legislature. 
Three years before the expiration of his Senatorial 
term. President Jefferson appointed him Minister to 
France, the onerous duties of which position he 
discharged with eminent ability. During his resi- 
dence abroad in the latter capacity he also discharg- 
ed the functions of a separate mission to Spain, for 
which he never received nor claimed any pecuniary 



General John Armstrong, Jr. 151 

consideration from his Government. His mission 
to France terminated at his own request in 1810 . 
He was appointed Brigadier-General, July 6, 1812, 
and was assigned to duty as commander of the Dis- 
trict of New York. In 1813-14 he was Secretary 
of War, having succeeded Dr. Bustes in that posi- 
tion. In this new and trying sphere at that pecu- 
liar period his troubles and difficulties increased an 
hundred-fold. He had no confidence whatever in 
the Generals appointed by Mr. Madison, and being 
self-willed, and somewhat arrogant, was in continu- 
ous collision with his military subordinates, and not 
unfrequently with the President himself. The ene- 
mies he had made, thirty years before, by his fluent, 
caustic pen, in his unfortunate " Newburg Letters," 
had not forgotten their wrongs, and massed them- 
selves against their old enemy, determined on his 
political and military overthrow. In addition to 
this outside organization, his military movements 
were not of such a character as to command public 
approbation. The total failure of the military opera- 
tions against Canada, and the capture of Washing- 
ton City, in August, 1814, by the British, completed 
the demolition of the erratic but intellectual Secre- 
tary, and his portfolio was soon transferred to other 
keeping. As fruits of his literary efforts after his 
retirement to private life, he published an able trea- 
tise on gardening and agriculture, a review of "Gen- 
eral Wilkinson's Memoirs" (in which he handles 
the author without gloves), and a two- volume His- 



162 Continental Sketches. 

tory of the War of 1812-14. General Armstrong, 
with all his failings, was a man of very decided 
ability, and of unquestionable loyalty. His long- 
continned intimate personal relations with General 
Gates made him unpopular with the numerous ene- 
mies of that gentleman; and his sharp, pungent, 
personal assaults with his graceful but bitter pen 
poorly qualified him to run smoothly in what might 
be termed the popular groove. Notwithstanding 
all these drawbacks, however, he secured many high 
civil and mihtary distinctions, the majority of which 
he filled with signal ability. His daughter was the 
estimable wife of William B. Astor, Esq., of New 
York City. General Armstrong died at his coun- 
try-seat at Eed Bank, N. J., April 1, 1843, in his 
eighty-fifth year. 



THE COMMANDER OF GIBSON'S LAMBS. 



A Well-known Army Favorite and His Sons in 
Revolutionary Times — Careers Eventful^ Perilous^ 
and Highly Honorable — General John Gibson^ s 
Interview with the Mingo Chiefs Logan^ &c. 

THE distinguished brothers, Generals John and 
George Gibson, were natives of Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania. The latter was a well-known army 
favorite in revolutionary times, personally very pop- 
ular, of genial social qualities, and esteemed by all 
who knew him for the honorable and generous feel- 
ings of his heart. The services rendered by him to 
his country were neither few nor unimportant. He 
commenced his career in a large mercantile house 
in Philadelphia, subsequently making several voy- 
ages to the West Indies as a supercargo. After- 
wards he retired to Fort Pitt, at that period a fron- 
tier post within the jurisdiction of Yirginia. He 
met with but indifferent success in his Western 
trading operations, and soon after removed to the 
neighborhood of Carlisle, Cumberland county. Pa., 
where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, which 
also proved unfortunate and unr-emunerative. He 
then returned once more to Fort Pitt, and organized 

7* (153) 



154 Continental Sketches. 

a company of one hundred picked men, with whom 
he marched to WiUiamsburg, at that time the seat 
of government of Virginia. His men were rather 
a reckless set of customers, possessing that indivi- 
dual independence, hardihood, and desperate dar- 
ing characteristic of all frontiersmen familiar with 
danger and removed from the restraints of civiliza- 
tion. They were all sharpshooters, mischievous 
without being malicious, and during the war were 
known by the classic appellation of "Gibson's lambs." 
The career of General George Gibson during the 
whole term of his military experience was eventful, 
perilous, and highly honorable. He participated in 
the leading battles of the Revolution, and after the 
declaration of peace returned to his farm in Cum- 
berland county. In 1791 he took command of a- 
regiment under Gen. St. Clair, and in the unfortu- 
nate defeat of that officer, while leading his men in 
a fearful bayonet charge, he received a mortal wound. 
He was a high-toned, honorable man, quite a lin- 
guist, and possessed a vast fund of interesting in- 
formation. He was a humorist of the first water, 
and the author of several very popular songs, which 
he sung with incredible effect. One of his sons 
was John Bannister Gibson, LL. D., born in Carlisle, 
Pa., November 8, 1780, and who died in Philadel- 
phia, May 3, 1853. He was admitted to the Cum- 
berland county bar in 1803, and practiced success- 
fully in Carlisle and Beaver, Pa., and was appointed 
Judge of the old Eleventh District, July, 1818. He 



Gibson's Lambs. 155 

was appointed to the Supreme Bench of Pennsylva- 
nia m 1816, and held the office of Chief- Justice 
from 1827 to 1851. He was possessed of very su- 
perior attainments, and as the fruit of long-conti- 
nued, severe, and regular training, his mind became 
so thoroughly imbued with legal principles and 
maxims, that they seemed to be part and parcel of 
his very nature. He was the peer and a worthy 
successor of the Tilghmans, Ingersoll, and Kawle, 
when the Philadelphia bar was the brilliant expo- 
nent of the legal talent of the country. Another 
son was General George Gibson, who for over forty 
years administered the Commissary Department of 
the United States army with commendable fidelity. 
He served with credit in the war of 1812, and was 
breveted Major-General, May 30, 1848, for merito- 
rious conduct in the Mexican war. He died in 
Washington, D. C, September 21, 1861. 

General John Gibson was born in Lancaster, Pa., 
on the 23d of May, 1740. He received a good pri- 
mary education, and entering the service at the early 
age of eighteen, made his first military campaign un- 
der General Forbes, in the famous expedition which 
resulted in the acquisition of Fort Du Quesne, Pitts- 
burgh, from the French. He settled at the latter 
place as an Indian trader in 1763, immediately after 
the declaration of peace. Shortly after this the war 
with the Indians was renewed, and Gibson and two 
companions, while descending the Ohio river in a 
flat-boat, were overhauled by the savages at the 



156 Continental Sketches. 

mouth of Beaver Creek. The two companions were 
burned at the stake, and Gibson's hfe was preserved 
bj an old squaw, who adopted him in Heu of a favor- 
ite son, who had recently been killed in battle. He 
remained several years a captive, during which time 
he was treated well, and became familiar with the 
language, habits, manners, customs, and traditions 
of the Indians. At the termination of hostilities, 
he settled once more at Fort Pitt. In 1774 he was 
an important agent in enforcing the Indian treaty 
inaugurated by Lord Dunmore, and restored nume- 
rous prisoners to their friends after a captivity of 
many years. It was on this occasion that the cele- 
brated Mingo Chief, Logan, delivered his historic 
speech, Colonel Gibson being the interpreter. As 
the troops were drawn up in line of battle, and every- 
thing indicated an immediate and vigorous attack, 
Gibson was sent forward under a flag of truce, au- 
thorized to make overtures of peace to the savage 
enemy. 

En route he encountered the tall, robust figure of 
the bronzed Mingo Chief, a splendid specimen of 
physical manhood, leaning against a huge oak tree, 
his piercing eye flashing bold defiance, and his 
clenched hand and heaving breast indicating a fear- 
ful battle Avithin. Gibson was his peer in muscular 
vigor and valorous courage, and as he approached 
Logan, accosted him familiarly and kindly: "My 
old friend, how do you do ? I am glad to see you." 
Logan, struggling to conceal his feelings, coldly re- 



Gibson's Lambs. 157 

plied, " I suppose you are," and turned away. 
With tlie exception of Logan, all the chiefs assem- 
bled in the council, which was immediately held, 
were unanimously in favor of an immediate peace. 
During the discussion of the terms and stipulations, 
Colonel Gibson felt some one plucking the skirt of 
his capote^ and, turning around, found Logan stand- 
ing at his back, his face convulsed with passion, 
beckoning him to follow. At first he hesitated, but, 
being well armed and fearless of danger, he con- 
cluded to follow, while the great Mingo Chief, with 
noiseless but hurried tread, led the way to a copse 
of woods some considerable distance from the coun- 
cil. Here they sat down together, and Logan fairly 
trembled with grief and excitement. He wept like 
a child, and for some time was so completely over- 
come by his feelings that he could scarcely utter 
a syllable. He then rose to his feet with a wild, 
majestic dignity, paced to and fro for a few mo- 
ments, and then turning to his solitary auditor, 
addressed him in eloquent thrilling terms as follows : 
" I appeal to any white man to say if he ever en- 
tered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not 
meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he 
clothed him not. During the course of the last long 
and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, 
an advocate of peace. Such was my love for the 
whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, 
and said, ' Logan is the friend of white men ! ' I 
had even thought to have lived with you, but for 



168 Continental Sketches. 

the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last 
spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered 
all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my 
women and children. There runs not a drop of my 
blood in the veins of any living creature. This 
called on me for revenge ; I have sought it ; I have 
killed many ; I have fully glutted my vengeance : for 
my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But 
do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. 
Logan never felt fear. He will not turn his heel, 
to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? 
Not one." After the delivery of this speech, the 
last utterances of a desolate and broken heart, he 
sat down convulsed with grief. He begged of Colo- 
nel Gibson to communicate his sentiments to Lord 
Dunmore, for the purpose of removing all suspicion 
of insincerity on the part of the Indians, in conse- 
quence of the refusal of a chief of his position to 
take part in the ratification of the treaty. After 
making this last request, the bold, brave, stalwart 
Mingo Chief darted off like an arrow from a bow, 
and was soon lost in the denseness of the surround- 
ing forest. On the breaking out of the Revolution- 
ary War, General Gibson was appointed to the 
command of one of the Continental regiments, and 
served with the army at New York, and in the re- 
treat through New Jersey. During the balance of 
the war he was employed on the Western frontier, 
for which, by long experience in Indian warfare, he 
was admirably qualified. In 1788 he was a mem- 



Gibson's Lambs. 159 

ber of the convention whicli framed the constitution 
of Pennsylvania, and was subsequently an associate 
judge of Alleghany county, Pa., and Major-Greneral 
of militia. President Jefferson appointed him in 
1800 Secretary of the Territory of Indiana, which 
position he held until that Territory became an 
admitted State in 1816. He died at the residence 
of his son-in-law, George Wallace, Esq., at Brad- 
dock's Field, Pa., on the 10th of April, 1822, aged 
eighty-two, having borne through life the charac- 
ter of a brave soldier and an honest man. 



MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN CADWALADER. 



The Youthful Commander of ^^ The Silk Stocking 
Company^'' in the Revolution — The Reward of 
Strict Discipline and Military Bearing — A Com- 
bination of the Dash of Marion and the Personal 
Bravery of Mad Anthony Wayne — The Triumph 
at Trenton — The Struggle at Princeton^ dhc, &c. 

FOE zealous and inflexible adherence to the na- 
tional cause, coupled with gallant intrepidity 
as a soldier, few men of the Revolutionary times 
were the peers of the youthful, chivalric General, 
John Cadwalader of Pennsylvania. In the periods 
of doubt, misfortune, and positive disaster with 
which that era unfortunately abounded, when brave 
men quailed, and good men were appalled at the 
threatening shadows of defeat, with its stringent, 
fearful penalties, young Cadwalader was calm and 
undismayed, hopeful and determined. He was born 
in Philadelphia, in 1742, and at the dawn of the 
Revolution commanded a corps of volunteers in that 
city, facetiously designated as "the silk stocking- 
company." This fine organization was composed of 
select young men from the front ranks of Philadel- 
phia society — the very elite of the city. The com- 

(160) 



<l 



Majok-General Cadwalader. 161 

panj was admirably drilled, handsomely clad, and 
its aristocratic pretensions in no manner interfered 
with, its military excellence. Its youthful comman- 
der, of handsome martial bearing, and every inch 
the soldier, possessed military genius and taste, and 
his gallant command did not uselessly expend its 
military ardor in gaudy street parades in times of 
peace, evaporating into a mysterious oblivion in 
times of war. When the tocsin of alarm sounded, 
nearly every member of this company promptly re- 
sponded, and the majority of its members became pro- 
minent line and staff officers, doing good practical 
work during the Eevolution in spite of their gauze 
hosiery. Young Cadwalader was soon appointed 
colonel of one of the Philadelphia regiments, and by 
his strict disciphne and military bearing was soon 
afterwards appointed brigadier-general, with sole 
command of the entire Pennsylvania forces in the 
important operations of the historic winter cam- 
paign of 1776-7. General Cadwalader combined 
the dash of Marion with the personal bravery of 
"Mad Anthony Wayne," possessing, moreover, that 
calm, philosophic discretion and devotion to rigid 
discipline so characteristic of his illustrious proto- 
type, his beloved Commander-in-chief. This happy 
union of rare elements combined to make him a 
most efficient auxiliary to Washington, whose con- 
fidence he enjoyed to a very great extent, and whose 
staunch personal friend he continued to be through 
life. With his hardy, stalwart Pennsylvania troops 



162 Continental Sketches. 

General Cadwalader gained laurels worthy of a 
Wellington in the historic actions of Princeton, 
Brandy wine, Germantown, Monmonth, and on many 
other memorable battle-fields of the Revolution. 

On the evening of December 25, 1776, Washing- 
ton made arrangements to cross the Delaware river, 
determined to drop the defensive and attack the 
British and Hessian troops at Trenton in the very 
midst of their Christmas festivities. His army was 
divided into three divisions. One, under General 
Cadwalader, consisting of some five hundred men, 
was to cross near Bristol; another, under General 
Irvine, to cross at the old Trenton Ferry, and secure, 
if possible, the bridge leading to the town. Both 
these divisions made herculean efforts to obey in- 
structions, but the condition of the river, owing to 
the huge masses of ice piled up on the Jersey side, 
rendered their passage an absolute impossibility, and 
they were reluctantly compelled to abandon the at- 
tempt. The third division, however, under com- 
mand of Washington, succeeded in crossing the 
Delaware, after almost superhuman effort, at Mc- 
Kenzie's Ferry, ten miles above Trenton. They 
found great difficulty in getting their artillery over. 
Indeed they did not succeed till three o'clock the 
next morning. This division was sub-divided into 
two others, commanded respectively by the gallant 
veterans Sullivan and Greene, having as heroic sub- 
ordinates Brigadier-Generals Mercer and St. Clair. 
This military movement eventuated the next day in 



Major-General Cadwalader. 163 

the battle of Trenton. Only about forty Hessians 
were killed in the engagement, but the aggregate of 
the surrender by the enemy was twenty-three officers 
and eight hundred and eighty-six men, while our 
loss was but two killed — several, however, being 
frozen to death. The balance of the troops, num- 
bering six hundred, escaped by way of the road 
leading to Bordentown. The British having a strong 
force at Princeton, only ten miles distant, and in ad- 
dition a superior force to ours near the Delaware, 
Washington deemed it prudent to recross into Penn- 
sylvania, which he did the next day, having in his 
custody all his prisoners. Telegraphs, in those days, 
were among the undeveloped mysteries of science, 
postal facilities were crude and contracted, and cou- 
riers uncertain and unreliable. Young Cadwalader, 
ambitious for warmer work than assaulting Delaware 
river icebergs, and totally ignorant of his comman- 
der's return, succeeded at last in crossing the day 
after Washington had recrossed, with a force of 
some fifteen hundred men. With these he pursued 
the panic-stricken enemy to Burlington, harassing 
them terribly, and driving them pell-mell into that 
ancient borough. Wa shington sent his Hessian pris- 
oners to Philadelphia, and they were paraded through 
Front, Third, Chestnut, and Market streets, amid the 
enthusiastic cheers of the general populace, and to 
the evident chagrin of some who were not quite so 
loyal. This display was made to convince the po- 
sitive traitors and doubting Thomases that a victory 



164 Continental Sketches. 

had actually been gained — a fact they very serious- 
ly doubted and certainly did not desire. The 
triumph at Trenton occured at a most propitious 
time, and seemed like the first wave of the return- 
ing tide. Public sentiment was badly demoralized, 
confidence crippled, and hope flickering, when the 
joyous news of "a victory at Trenton " strengthened 
public sentiment, and drove the chronic croakers to 
the rear. The brilliant services and intrinsic merits 
of young Cadwalader won the gratitude not only of 
his native city and State, but of the entire Colonies, 
and were especially recognized by Congress in a ten- 
der to him of the honorable position of General of 
Cavalry. He declined ihe generous offer, however, 
with becoming grace, conscious that he might be 
more useful to his country in the sphere he then oc- 
cupied. Encouraged by success at Trenton and 
heavy accessions to his ranks of gallant recruits, 
whose lack of temporal comforts was more than com- 
pensated by their ardent zeal and patriotic inspira- 
tion, "Washington concluded to inaugurate an aggres- 
sive movement, determined, if possible, to make 
a brilliant winter campaign for the recovery of the 
whole, or, at least, a great portion, of Kew Jersey, 
which was crushed by the iron heel of an arrogant 
foe. Lord Cornwallis held command of the British 
forces at Princeton, and this was made the prospec- 
tive point of attack. It is an interesting digression 
to remember the cordial relations existing, more es- 
pecially at this time, between the citizens of the 



Major-General Cadwalader. 165 

Colonies of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They 
seemed like one great brotherhood united by com- 
mon interests, and forming a powerful patriotic co- 
partnership in fighting the battles of their common 
country. Generals Mifflin and Cadwalader, both 
gallant Pennsylvanians, lay at Bordentown and 
Crosswicks, with three thousand six hundred raw 
militia, and were ordered to join Washington on the 
night of January 1, 1777. The combined army 
thus reinforced did not number more than five 
thousand men. The Commander-in-chief determin- 
ed to make a forced march from the Delaware river 
to the left flank and to the rear of the enemy at 
Princeton, their supposed most vulnerable point. 
On the morning of January 3, "he arrived within 
a short distance of Princeton, and but for meeting, 
within a mile or two of the village, some stragglers 
of the enemy, would have completely surprised 
Cornwallis and achieved a brilliant victory. Their 
presence being informally and unfortunately announ- 
ced, a sharp, bitter fight commenced at once. The 
rew militia fell back for a moment under the fierce 
fire of the British troops, and their gallant leader, 
General Hugh Mercer, fell mortally wounded while 
endeavoring to rally his broken ranks." 

At the critical moment Washington, by one of 
those magnificent exhibitions of personal bravery 
which made him so conspicuous on many a battle- 
field, dashed forward on his foaming steed and 
placed himself in front of the shattered line, his 



166 Continental Sketches. 

horse's head -being directly facing the assaulting foe. 
The effect was electric and instantaneous. Bravery 
begets bravery, and the Americans, resuming their 
original position, fought with the wildest despera- 
tion. Part of the British forces broke ranks, and 
fled into the old college building, where their assail- 
ants attacked them with artillery, compelling them 
in less than half an hour to surrender as prisoners 
of war. In this comparatively brief engagement 
more than one hundred of the enemy were killed 
and three hundred taken prisoners. The American 
loss was light. Colonels Haslet and Potter, two 
brilliant young officers from Delaware and Penn- 
sylvania, were among the killed. In this battle 
General Cadwalader displayed his usual personal 
bravery and skill as a tactician. He was always 
calm and collected under fire, never losing his pre- 
sence of mind and self-control. His whole military 
career was in keeping with his brilliant campaign 
in New Jersey, afibrding additional developments of 
military genius, and his unfeigned love for his coun- 
try. General Cadwalader's duel with General Con- 
way originated in the love he bore for General 
Washington, and the corresponding contempt he 
had for all who waged a personal war against him. 
He inherited a keen sense of honor, and his spirited 
opposition to' the intrigues of Conway produced 
the unfortunate collision. General Gates was ambi- 
tious, and encouraged these attempts to place him 
in command at the expense of Washington's well- 



Major-General Oadwalader. 167 

earned reputation. Bancroft, in speaking of Gates, 
says '' his experience adapted him for good service 
in bringing the army into order, but he was shallow 
in his natural endowments and in his military cul- 
ture." It will be remembered that, in the duel with 
Oadwalader, Conway was dangerously wounded, and 
while there was some doubt about his recovery, he 
wrote to General Washington, acknowledging that 
he had done him great injustice. At the termina- 
tion of the war Oadwalader removed to Maryland, 
where he resided during the balance of his life. 
He represented his district there as a member of 
the Assembly for two years. He died at Shrews- 
bury, his country seat, in Kent county, Maryland, 
February 10, 1786, in the 44th year of his age. 
He served his country well, and left an unsullied 
reputation as a soldier and a gentleman. A zealous 
friend of his country and her institutions, his en- 
thusiasm in her behalf was not tinctured by bitter- 
ness or malevolence towards others who respectfully 
differed from him. In the private circle he was 
almost proverbial in his neighborhood for his genial 
traits, cheerful temper, liberal views, generous hos- 
pitality, and unswerving integrity. He belonged to 
a family long and honorably identified with the civil 
and military history of Philadelphia and Pennsylva- 
nia. 



CAPTAIN NICHOLAS BIDDLE, U.S.N. 



Hardships Endured hy the Young ^Mariner on a 
Barren Waste — Midshipman at Twenty Years of 
Age — Before the Mast on Board the Carcase, of 
the North Pole Expedition — In the Revolution — 
Commander of the Andrea Dorea — The Prizes 
Brought to the Delaware, dhc. 

THE Biddle family, prominently identified with 
our early history, were among the first set- 
tlers of Few Jersey and Pennsylvania, their im- 
mediate ancestor, Wilham Biddle, being one of the 
early proprietors of the former estate. Charles 
Biddle, father of the somewhat celebrated financier, 
Nicholas Biddle, and brother of the subject of this 
article, was an ardent patriot in the Eevolution, 
and under the Constitution of 1776 was Vice- 
President of the Commonwealth, when Franklin 
was President. Another brother, Edward Biddle, 
served as a captain in the war of 1756, and was a 
member of the first Congress in 1774, while another 
brother, James, prior to the Eevolution, held the 
of&ce of deputy judge of the Admiralty, being sub- 
sequently appointed judge of the First Judicial Dis- 
trict. 

(KJS) 



Captain Nicholas Biddle. 169 

Captain Nicholas Biddle, the youngest brother of 
this distin^ished household, a man of marked mili- 
tary genius and intrepid gallantry, was born in 
Philadelphia, September 10, 1750. From early 
childhood he manifested a decided partiality for the 
sea, and in 1764, being then but fourteen years of 
age, he made a voyage to Quebec. In 1765 he sail- 
ed from Philadelphia for the West Indies. The 
vessel left the Bay of Honduras in December of 
that year, bound to Antigua, and on January 2d, 
during a heavy gale, was cast on a shoal called the 
Northern Triangles. The crew remained for several 
days upon the wreck, when they were compelled to 
take to their yawl, the long-boat having been lost, 
and with great dif&culty succeeded in landing on 
one of the small uninhabited islands a short distance 
from the reef on which they struck. 

With a scanty larder, secured from the wreck, 
and a disabled yawl, the condition of the shipwreck- 
ed crew was desperate. The small boat was refitted, 
and lots drawn to determine who should remain on 
the dreary island. Young Biddle was one of four 
doomed to stay, and for two months he and his 
companions suffered great privations and extreme 
hardships on this barren waste. This was pretty 
severe practical nautical experience for a delicate 
young lad of fifteen, reared amid the comforts of a 
luxurious home in the city of Philadelphia. Dur- 
ing his two months of exile here his health was 
materially impaired by scanty and inferior supplies 



170 ■ Continental Sketches. 

of provisions and water. Sucli an experience would 
have crippled the ambition of any ordinary yonng 
man ; but not so with our hero. In ten days after 
his return to Philadelphia he sailed for Liverpool, 
and in several subsequent European voyages ac- 
quired a very thorough knowledge of practical sea- 
manship. In 1770, when twenty years of age, he 
served as a midshipman on an English vessel com- 
manded by Captain Sterling, brother-in-law of Mr. 
Thomas Willing, a well-remembered, public-spirited 
citizen of Philadelphia. He shipped on this vessel 
in anticipation of a threatened war between Great 
Britain and Spain about the Falkland Islands, and, 
that difficulty being happily adjusted, he yearned 
for a life of more exciting activity. In 1773 a North 
Pole expedition was inaugurated under the auspices 
of the Eoyal Society; and two vessels, the Eace 
Horse and Carcase, were fitted out under command 
of Lord Mulgrave. 

Such an expedition, with its perils, dangers, and 
romance, had special attraction for such an adven- 
turous, dashing spirit as our young American, and 
he pleaded with all the eloquence of a Cicero to be 
released from his engagement with his kind friend. 
Captain Sterling. His appeals were futile, but the 
temptation to go was irresistible, and he flung aside 
the gaudy uniform of a British midshipman and 
entered on board the Carcase as a private sailor be- 
fore the mast. The particulars of this historic 
expedition are well known by scientific men, the 



Captain Nicholas Biddle. 171 

intrepid navigators having penetrated as far as tlie 
latitude of 81 deg. 39 min., often locked up for 
weeks in the huge mountains of ice. In this same 
expedition yonng Horatio, afterwards Lord Kelson, 
the greatest of Britain's admirals, served, and was 
a warm personal friend of young Biddle. After 
certain developments in his native land, clearly 
indicating a rupture between England and America, 
our youthful wanderer repaired without delay to 
the standard of his country. On his return to his 
native city he was appointed to the command of 
the Camden galley, fitted for the defence of the 
Delaware. This service was too inactive for one of 
his ardent temperament, and he was soon afterwards 
appointed commander of the good ship Andrea 
Dorea, a brig of 14 guns and 130 men, attached to 
the fleet under Commodore Hopkins preparing for 
an expedition against New Providence. Paul Jones, 
afterwards so distinguished in our naval history, 
was a young lieutenant attached to the same com- 
mand. Writing from off the Capes to his brother. 
Judge Biddle, he says: "I know not what may be 
our fate ; be it, however, what it may, you may rest 
assured I will never cause a blush in the cheeks of 
my friends and countrymen." On the arrival of the 
fleet at New Providence, that place surrendered with- 
out opposition. After refitting at the latter port. 
Captain Biddle received orders to proceed off the 
Banks of Newfoundland, to intercept transports and 
storeships bound for Boston. En route he captured 



172 Continental Sketches. 

two ships from Scotland, with four hundred High- 
land troops on board, bound for Boston. He was 
eminently successful in capturing other prizes, and 
when he arrived in the Delaware he had but five of 
his original crew, the rest having been distributed 
among the captured vessels. In the fall of 1776 
Captain Biddle was appointed to the command of 
the Kandolph, a frigate of thirty -two guns, and 
sailed from Philadelphia February, 1777. A heavy 
gale carried away all her masts, and she entered 
Charleston habor in a shattered and disabled condi- 
tion. After refitting at Charleston as speedily as 
possible, he sailed on a cruise, and within one week 
returned to port with four valuable prizes. His 
spirit and success were keenly appreciated by the 
Charlestonians, and in a short time a fleet was ten- 
dered him, comprising the ship General Moultrie, 
and the brigs Fair America, Polly, and Notre Dame. 
A detachment of fifty men from the First Eegiment 
of South Carolina Continental Infantry was ordered 
to act as marines on board of the Kandolph. The 
honorable, amiable, and professional conduct and 
valor of the young commander inspired general 
confidence in the whole corps, and gave great pro- 
mise of a brilliant future. Finding that the enemy's 
ships had left the coast, the fleet proceeded to the 
West Indies, and cruised for several days in the 
latitude of Barbadoes. On the night of the 7th of 
March, 1778, the brief but brilliant career of this 
gallant young naval hero was brought to a sad close 



Captain Nicholas Biddle. 173 

in a fierce engagement of the Eandolph. witli the 
Britisli ship Yarmouth, of sixtj-four guns, com- 
manded by Captain Yincent. At the very begin- 
ning of the fierce conflict Captain Biddle was in- 
jured in the thigh, and was supposed to be mortally 
wounded. He soon rallied, however, and ordered 
a chair to be brought to the forward deck, in which 
he took a seat and issued his orders with coolness and 
precision, amid the blaze of battle and the terrific 
broadsides of the enemy. Mingled with the horrible 
din of the deadly conflict could be heard the stento- 
rian tones of young Biddle, the warm blood oozing 
from his fatal wound, encouraging his men "to 
stand to their guns." The battle lasted only twenty 
minutes, when the Eandolph blew up, and of her 
gallant crew of three hundred and fifteen American 
tars only four remained to tell the story. Thus 
prematurely fell, at the very early age of 27, as 
gallant a young naval hero as ever trod a quarter- 
deck. Brave to a fault, and consummately skilled 
in his profession, no danger, real or imaginary, 
could shake his firmness or disturb his mental equi- 
poise. Although a strict disciplinarian, he tem- 
pered his authority with so much humanity and 
affability that his orders were always executed with 
cheerfulness and alacrity. Fenimore Cooper, in his 
Naval History, speaks of him thus : " Ardent, ambi- 
tious, fearless, intelligent, and persevering, he had 
all the qualities of a great naval captain ; and 
although possessing some local family influence, he 



174 Continental Sketches. 

rose to the station lie filled at so early an age by 
personal merit. His loss was greatly regretted in 
the midst of the excitement and vicissitudes of a 
revolution, and can scarcely be appreciated by those 
who do not understand the influence that such a 
character can influence on a small infant service." 
Ramsey, the historian, truthfully says : " Captain 
Biddle, who perished on board the Randolph, was 
universally lamented. He was in the prime of life, 
and had excited high expectations of future useful- 
ness to his country, as a bold and skillful naval 
officer." 

At the termination of his cruise he was to have 
married an accomplished young lady, Miss Eliza- 
beth Elliott Baker, daughter of Mr. Thomas Bohun 
Baker, of Charleston, S. C. He liberally remem- 
bered her in his will by bequeathing to her the 
munificent sum of twenty-five thousand pounds. 
Captain Biddle was a man of strictly temperate 
habits, and possessed the crowning virtue of a 
sweet Christian character. His genial, winning 
manners were as attractive in the social circle as 
his brilliant naval career was jointly creditable to 
his friends, his State, and his country. 



THOMAS McKEAN. 



Another of the Leading Men whose Reputation was 
not Hemmed in hy Contracted State Lines^ hut Be- 
longed to the Nation and the World — Thomas Mc- 
Kean^ Jurist, Patriot, and Statesman — Member of 
the Philadelphia Bar in 1756, Delegate to the 
Celebrated Stamp-act Congress, .Representative in 
the National Legislature, and Governor of the 
State. 

CHESTER county seems to have been the grand 
centre of intellectual culture, and the nursery 
of patriotism during the early history of our coun- 
try. "We have remarked that John Morton and 
Dr. Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina, were both 
born in this county, and now we chronicle the same 
locality as the birthplace of another distinguished 
Pennsylvanian whose reputation was not hemmed in 
by contracted State lines, but belonged to the nation 
and the world. Thomas McKean, jurist, patriot, 
and statesman, was born in the old township of New 
London, county of Chester, and province of Penn- 
sylvania, on the nineteenth of March, 1734. His 
father, Mr. Wm. McKean, was a native of Ire- 
land, and shortly after his arrival in this country 

(175) 



176 Continental Sketches. 

he settled permanently in New London. The Eev. 
Dr. Allison, a learned and accomplished scholar at 
that time, presided over a quite celebrated institu- 
tion at that place, and at this school young McKean 
was placed at the very early age of nine years. 
This old Dr. Allison, we may remark, had an almost 
national reputation as a successful preceptor, was 
wonderfully proficient in the classics, and Avell versed 
in philosophy, history, and general literature. The 
leading men of Pennsylvania and the neighboring 
Colonies, who yearned for solid learning and polite 
literature generally, had their thirst quenched at the 
scientific fountain of quaint old Dr. Allison, at New 
London, Chester county. 

After acquiring the elementary basis of a good 
education, with a fair knowledge of rhetoric, logic, 
and classics, young McKean registered himself as 
a law student in the office of a relative of no mean 
legal reputation, David Finney, Esq., of New Castle, 
Delaware. Before he attained his majority he was 
admitted to the bar, and in a very short time se- 
cured a large and lucrative practice, and was recog- 
nized as one of the most prominent and brilliant 
young advocates in the Colony of Delaware. In 1756 
he was admitted to practice in the courts of the city 
and county of Philadelphia, and the following year 
to the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 
The political career of Mr. McKean began when he 
was about twenty -eight years of age, and for several 
years he held successively many local offices of 



Thomas McKean. 177 

honor and trust ; and by his unflagging industry and 
genuine ability gave significant promise of that 
great eminence which he subsequently attained. 
He was a leading member of the celebrated Stamp 
Act Congress, which met in New York in 1765, to 
obtain relief of the British Government from a long 
schedule of grievances under which we suffered, but 
more particularly those allied to the celebrated 
Stamp Act. The proceedings of that famous con- 
vention have never received the publicity their im- 
portance demanded, excepting, of course, the gene- 
ral declaration of rights, appeal to the King, and 
various petitions to Parliament. A commendable 
proportion of firmness and boldness characterized 
the general proceedings of the convention, but 
throughout all their deliberations there was an un- 
mistakable outcropping of nervous timidity, dubious 
loyalty, and that non-committal policy which shirks 
everything with which it comes in contact. The 
aggressive wing of the body was engineered by the 
celebrated James Otis, of Boston, and young Thomas 
McKean of Delaware ; and their stirring and thril- 
ling appeals gave forth no uncertain sound. One 
Timothy Euggles, of Massachusetts, was elected 
chairman of the convention by a majority of one 
vote over his competitor, this same James Otis — one 
of those peculiar political results which are as un- 
accountable as they are common. President Eug- 
gles, although a good man in the quiet walks of pri- 
vate life, was not the most reliable loyalist in the 



17S Continental Sketches. 

world, and, instead of being an aggressive states- 
man, was one of trembling tendencies. When the 
convention ceased its operations, and the president, 
with others, was called upon to sign the proceedings, 
and give them official character, he peremptorily re- 
fused to affix his name. This produced what in 
modern parlance we might term a sensation! Mc- 
Kean, who was impulsive and a seeker after truth, 
with proper dignity but some warmth demanded of 
Timothy his reasons for refusing to sign the peti- 
tion. This was a bombshell in the camp of the con- 
servatives, and after some parleying and much per- 
sonal embarrassment, Euggles replied that he refus- 
ed because he had a right to do so, and to sign these 
proceedings "would be doing violence to his con- 
science." This brought the impetuous McKean to 
his feet, who yelled out, "Conscience! Conscience!" 
so long and so loud, and in such a strangely modulated 
tone, that the chairman became irritable beyond all 
measure, and, forgetful of all parliamentary propriet}^ 
and dignity, immediately then and there challenged 
his youthful assailant to mortal combat. The chal- 
lenge was no sooner proffered than accepted, but the 
timid Kuggles was no more inclined to fight than to 
sign the official proceedings, and quietly returned to 
Massachusetts only to receive from the Legislature 
of that colony a stern rebuke for his vacillating, 
timid course as her representative. Ruggles and 
Eobert Ogden, of New Jersey, were the only two 
delegates who refused to sign the petitions. The 



Thomas McKean. 179 

latter was subsequently burned in effigy by his in- 
dignant constituents, and forced to retire from the 
Speakership of the General Assembly of that State. 
Ogden' blamed McKean for communicating to the 
public his action in the matter, and threatened him 
with a challenge, but very prudently, perhaps, never 
carried his threat into execution. Mr. McKean re- 
moved to Philadelphia in 1774, a short time before 
the meeting of Congress. The citizens of the coun- 
ties of New Castle, Sussex, and Kent, in Delaware, 
still insisted that he should represent them in Con- 
gress, and he was accordingly elected as their dele- 
gate, and took his seat in that body September 3d, 
1774. He acted in that capacity from that date to 
February 1, 1783. This was said to be the only 
instance where any one member remained for so 
long a period in Congress, i. e., from 1774 to the • 
signing of the preliminary peace in 1783, a con- 
tinuous term of eight and a half years. It is a 
singular incident in his life that during all this time 
he was actually a ]-esident of Philadelphia, while 
at the same time his constituents were residents of 
another State. In 1777, although, as stated, he 
was a Congressional Kepresentative of Delaware, 
he was appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 
thus holding high official positions in both States 
at the same time, and claimed as a citizen by 
each — a most singular position to occupy, aud an 
anomaly in the history of politics. He received 
his commission as Chief Justice of Pemisylvania, 



180 Continental Sketches. 

July 28, 1778, from the Supreme Executive Coun- 
cil of the State, and most ably discharged the 
duties of the honorable position for a period of 
twenty -two years. In 1780, actually oppressed by 
the weight of official position, he tendered his re- 
signation to the citizens of Delaware as their Con- 
gressional Eepresentative. So invaluable, however, 
were his services, that his Delaware friends declined 
to accept it, and he was compelled to continue in the 
position, more from a sense of gratitude and duty 
than from love of honor or reward. In July, 1781, 
he was elected President of Congress, but in Oc- 
tober of the same year was compelled to relinquisb 
this position because it interfered with, the proper 
exercise of his functions and duties as Chief Justice. 
Of McKean as a lawyer we may safely say that he 
was master of that intricate profession. As a con- 
temporary very justly remarked of Tilghman, we 
may appropriately say of McKean: "He took in at 
one glance all the beauties of the most obscure and 
difficult limitations. With him it was intuitive, and 
he could untie the knots of a contingent remainder 
or an executive device, as familiarly as he could his 
garter." Of his career as a judge it is unnecessary 
for us to comment, for his judicial fame is the com- 
mon property of the world. Pennsylvania, however 
much she may have suffered in many instances by 
irresponsible and unworthy political representation 
in the councils of the nation, has always been justly 
proud of her incorruptible and learned judiciary. 



Thomas McKean. 181 

Eoss, Tilgliinan, Ingersoll, Eawle, and Bradford, with 
a host of others, were brilliant stars in the legal fir- 
mament of the old Colonial times, and the lustre of 
the galaxy has not been dimmed by such modern 
luminaries as Gibson and Black. But the peer of 
theni all was Chief Justice Thos. McKean. A fault- 
less logician, fluent without the least volubility, 
wonderfully concise, with a naturally logical mind 
well disciplined by severe and systematic training, 
he was a most brilliant advocate and attorney. As 
a judge he had few equals in this or any other land. 
When he assumed the judicial ermine, the laws of 
Pennsylvania were crude and unsettled, and it de- 
volved upon him to overcome all these difficulties, 
and bring order out of comparative chaos. His de- 
cisions were remarkably accurate, sometimes quite 
profound, and always delivered with a grace of dic- 
tion and perspicuity of language which commend 
them to the cultivated legal mind. His personal 
appearance on the bench was a combination of 
proper affability and great dignity. In 1788 an atj 
tempt was made to impeach him as Chief Justice, 
but it was promptly ignored by the General Assem- 
bly, to whom it was referred. Mr. McKean was 
delegated a member from Philadelphia to the Penn- 
sylvania Convention which met in 1787 to ratify 
the constitution of the United States, and was a 
leading spirit of that body. In concluding an elo- 
quent speech in fj^vor of the ratification, he said: 
' ' The law, sir, has been my study from my infancy. 



182 Continental Sketches. 

and my only profession. I have gone throngli the 
circle of office in the legislative, judicial, and execu- 
tive departments of government, and from all my 
study, observation, and experience, I must declare, 
that from a full examination and due consideration 
of this system, it appears to be the very best the 
world has yet seen." 

In 1788 the Legislature of Pennsylvania took 
preliminary action in relation to calling a conven- 
tion to revise the State Constitution. This body 
assembled on the 24:th of November, 1789, and here 
again McKean was a member of great mark and 
force. In 1799 he was elected Grovernor of Penn- 
sylvania, his competitor being the able and dis- 
tinguished jurist. Judge James Eoss. McKean was 
an uncompromising Democrat, and by his great 
personal and political influence contributed in no 
small degree to the election of Mr. Jefferson to the 
Presidency. His gubernatorial career was marked 
by great ability, and produced beneficial results to 
the Commonwealth. He was a rigid partisan, well 
disciplined in tactics, and a devout believer in the 
old Jeftersonian maxim, that "to the victors belong 
the spoils." In carrying out his specific views of 
this theory, his wholesale removal of political oppo- 
ncTits from office was unprecedented in our early 
history, producing very great excitement, and evinc- 
ing on his part an unjustifiable degree of politi- 
cal asperity. Party spirit, however, in those days 
ran high on both sides, as was indicated by a series 



Thomas McKean. . 183 

of charges made against Governor McKean by cer- 
tain influential citizens of the county of Phila- 
delphia, which resulted in having them referred to 
a committee of the Legislature. This committee 
reported adversely to the Grovernor on six different 
points, including unjustifiable interference on his 
part with the election of Sheriff in Philadelphia in 
1806 ; an usurpation of authority in the somewhat 
celebrated case of Joseph Cabrera ; violation of the 
constitution in making certain Philadelphia appoint- 
ments ; allowing his name to be stamped on blank 
patents, Treasury warrants, and other official papers ; 
and improper overtures in the exciting case of Wm. 
Duane against the son of the Governor, for what 
was termed a murderous assault. 

The committee, as we have intimated, reported a 
resolution in favor of the impeachment of the Gover- 
nor for "high crimes and misdemeanors," but after 
considerable preliminary skirmishing, the House, 
on the 27th of January, indefinitely postponed fur- 
ther consideration of the whole matter, and the 
impulsive but not malicious official was saved from 
the ignominy of successful impeachment. The next 
day a formal reply of his to the charges preferred 
against him was inserted in full on the House Jour- 
nal, where it remains to this day, and the whole 
matter thus terminated. In this reply occurs the 
following passage, which is characteristic of the 
man: "That I may have erred in judgment, that 
I ma}^ have been mistaken in my general views of 



184 Continental Sketches. 

public policy, and that I may have been deceived 
by the objects of execntive confidence and benevo- 
lence, I am not so vain nor so crednlons as to deny, 
thoiigh in the present instance I am still without 
the proof and without the belief. But the firm and 
fearless position which I take invites the strictest 
scrutiny, upon a fair exposition of our constitution 
and law, into the sincerity and truth of the general 
answer given to my accusers — that no act of my puh- 
lic life was ever done from a corrupt motive^ nor with- 
out a deliberate opinion that the act was proper and 
lawful in itself f"^ 

Governor McKean was a bold and fearless advo- 
cate of the Declaration of Independence, and, although 
he signed his name to the original instrument de- 
posited in the office of the Secretary of State, either 
through extreme carelessness, or some political leg- 
erdemain of an envious rival, his name was omitted 
in the official copy published in the journals of Con- 
gress. He occupied a high social position in Dela- 
ware and in Philadelphia. In the latter place so- 
ciety was peculiarly refined and attractive, particu- 
larly during the administration of "Washington. His 
daughter, a beautiful and accomplished lady, was 
one of the reigning belles of the period, and subse- 
quently married the Marquis d'Yrujo, a dashing 
young Spaniard who represented the Court of Mad- 
rid in this country, and was an attractive feature in 
fashionable life years ago. Yrujo was afterwards 
quite prominent in Spanish politics, and his son, the 



Thomas McKean. 185 

Duke of Sotomayer, born in Philadelphia, afterwards 
became Prime Minister. 

In 1808, having served nine years as Governor 
of Pennsylvania, McKean returned to private life 
with the consciousness of a well-earned and hon- 
orable reputation. He had many friends and not a 
few enemies, the common fate of every man in high 
public office who eodeavors to discharge his duties 
with firmness and impartiality. On the 24th of 
June, 1817, he was gathered to the generation of 
his fathers, at l^he advanced age of 83. 



THE POET, FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 



Graduate of the Philadelphia College^ Successful Ad- 
vocate at the Bar^ Author of " The Battle of the 
KegsJ^ Executive Counsellor and Collector of Cus- 
toms^ Representative in Congress, and United 
States Judge for the District of Pennsylvania. 

ALTHOUGH for several years a resident of 
New Jersey, and one of her Congressional 
Eepresentatives, Francis Hopkinson was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and as lie spent the greater portion of 
his life in the latter, may be claimed as the joint pro- 
perty of the two venerable colonies that fought side 
by side daring the stormy times of the Revolution. 
He was born in Philadelphia, in the year 1737. 
His father, Mr. Thomas Hopkinson, married a niece 
of the Bishop of Worcester, and emigrating to 
this country about 1716, settled in Philadelphia, 
where he was justly considered a most valuable ac- 
quisition to her select society, and filled in that city 
several important offices under the English Grovern- 
ment. He was somewhat of a scientist, and an in- 
timate personal friend of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. 
The elder Hopkinson claimed credit for several sci- 
entific discoveries which were of great practical 

(186) 



The Poet, Francis Hopkinsox. 187 

utility, and which were highly commended by 
Franklin. Attracting the electric fluid by means of 
a pointed instead of a blunt instrument, thus avoid- 
ing the disagreeable explosion which invariably 
took place by the old method, was one of his inven- 
tions or discoveries. He died comparatively young, 
leaving a large family in sole charge of his widow, 
a lady of superior attainments, much self-denial, 
great force of character, and a rare combination of 
those sweet virtues and gentle traits which develop 
the perfectibility of true womanhood. The influ- 
ence of such a person was not lost upon her family, 
especially that son who is the subject of this imper- 
fect sketch ; and her noble efforts in his behalf were 
crowned with the most satisfactory results. She 
lived long enough to see the partial fruition of a 
mother's hopes in his graduation at the Philadelphia 
College, and his securing an honorable position as a 
successful advocate of the Philadelphia bar. His 
genius was quick and versatile, and his acquirements 
were a singular combination of profound learning 
and the lighter accomplishments of what is termed 
a fashionable education. He was a man of fine so- 
cial points — fond of society, quite a musician, a sati- 
rist, a humorist, and a poet of no mean pretension. 
His poetic talent developed itself in the production 
of a number of humorous ballads, which were very 
popular at that time. The well known revolu- 
tionary song of "The Battle of the Kegs," of which 
he was the author, is perhaps a fair specimen of his 



188 Continental Sketches. 

somewliat peculiar poetic development. His ver- 
sification was fluent and graceful, and he wrote more 
to amuse his friends and subserve the glorious cause 
he so enthusiastically espoused than to rival Milton 
or Goethe. In thrilling revolutionary times, when 
the pulse beats fast and the passions are keenly sen- 
sitive, a light, humorous poet is a more important 
auxiliary to the public welfare then is generally con- 
ceded. "Without such an one the surrounding at- 
mosphere becomes heavy and murky, and the pub- 
lic mind phlegmatic and melancholy. The avoca- 
tion of this peculiar bard has been supplanted in 
modern times by the expressive pencil of the artist, 
and a broad cartoon nowadays is oftentimes more 
potential than a logical speech of a fortnight's pre- 
paration. "We would not underrate the poetic status 
of Mr. Hopkinson, for in this sphere he was always 
recognized as a poet of the people, amusing, instruc- 
ting, and inspiring, a broad humorist, and not a vul- 
gar wag, a bitter satirist, with a good motive always 
clinging to his barbed arrow. The poetic genius, 
equally intensified and much more cultivated, clung 
to the family line, and his son. Judge Joseph Hop- 
kinson, is justly celebrated as the author of our na- 
tional song, "Hail Columbia," favorably known 
wherever the English language is spoken. 

At the age of twenty-nine, after having secured 
an enviable reputation as a brilliant attorney, he 
embarked for England to visit the home of his an- 
cestors, and remained abroad two years. At the 



. The Poet, Francis Hopkinson. 189 

expiration of that time he returned to this country, 
settled in New Jersey, and married Miss Borden, a 
cultivated and estimable lady of that colony. The 
royal government recognized his intrinsic merits by 
appointing him successively executive counsellor 
and collector of customs. The latter position he 
forfeited by the intense zeal with which he entered 
into the discussion of the exciting questions im- 
mediately preceding the Ee volution. He gained, 
however, in return, the undivided good- will of all 
his friends and neighbors, and was shortly afterward 
selected as a Representative of New Jersey in the 
Continental Congress of 1776. In that capacity he 
gave his cordial and cheerful approval to the Decla- 
ration of Independence, and voted promptly for its 
passage. 

In 1779 the President of the Colony of Pennsyl- 
vania nominated Mr. Hopkinson to fill the judicial 
vacancy in the Admiralty Court occasioned by the 
retirement of Judge Ross, and he was* unanimously 
appointed to the same, and for ten years, until the 
organization of the Federal Government, honorably 
discharged its important duties. 

He was subsequently appointed by General Wash- 
ington United States Judge for the District of Penn- 
sylvania, in which position he contributed no little 
to the stability and dignity of the general Govern- 
ment. One leading point in the life of this eminent 
man is worthy of intelligent commendation. Dur- 
ing the continuance of his extended j udicial course 



190 Continental Sketches. 

he conscientiously avoided mingling in party poli- 
tics. Thus his official ermine was preserved pure 
and spotless, and his judgment unswayed by the 
rude elements of coarse partizanship. An inde- 
pendent judiciary, untrammelled by political hopes 
or fears, is as essential to the welfare of a well-regu- 
lated government as oxygen to the atmospheric 
breath ; and it argues a lamentable condition of 
society, indicative of speedy ruin and decay, when 
the politician becomes the judge, or the judge the 
politician. Either will corrupt the fountain, and 
the stream must become impure. 

When the Constitution of the United States was 
ratified, all the large maritime towns of the country 
particularly hailed the result with great joy, and 
grand celebrations in honor of the important event 
were the order of the day. Perhaps the most im- 
posing demonstration of this kind ever held in the 
early history of Philadelphia was that of July 4, 
1788, in honor of the ratification. This grand 
pageant and demonstration was planned and managed 
by Mr. Hopkinson, and was a practical illustration 
of that taste, tact, loyalty, and executive ability for 
which he was always so conspicuous. A contempo- 
rary thus describes it: " The rising sun was saluted 
with the ringing of bells and the discharge of can- 
non. Ten ships along the river in front of the city 
represented the ten ratifying States, each gaily 
dressed in flags and streamers with appropriate in- 
scriptions emblazoned in gold. At half-past nine 



The Poet, Feancis Hopkinson. 191 

o'clock the grand procession began to move. The 
Declaration of Independence, the French Alliance, 
the Definite Treaty of Peace, the Convention of 
the States, the Constitution, and the New Era were 
represented by some of the principal citizens in 
emblematical costumes. The Constitution was per- 
sonified by a lofty monumental car in the form of 
an eagle, drawn by six horses. Chief Justice 
McKean, with Judges Atlee and Eush in their offi- 
cial robes, were seated in this car, bearing the Con- 
stitution, framed and fixed upon a staff which was 
crowned with the cap of liberty, and bore as a 
legend ' The People,' in golden letters. A carriage 
drawn by ten white horses supported the model of 
a Federal edifice, the 'New Eoof of which was 
upheld by thirteen columns, the three inscribed with 
the names of the States which had not yet ratified 
the Constitution being unfinished. The pilots, ship- 
carpenters, boat-builders, and other trades connected 
with navigation, surrounding the Federal ship. 
Union, mounting twenty guns, and with a crew of 
twenty-five men. A sheet of canvas, tacked along 
the water line, extended over a light frame, and 
was painted to represent the sea, concealing the 
carriage on which the vessel was drawn. The 
procession, including all the trades, many of which 
were occupied with their appropriate duties, the 
military, and the public functionaries, embraced 
more than five thousand persons ; and having tra- 
versed the city, it proceeded to Union Green, Bush 



192 Co:^riN"E.NTAL Sketches. 

Hill, where a crowd of over seventeen thousand 
was collected to observe the remaining proceedings. 
While the procession was moving the printers strack 
off and distributed from their car among the peo- 
ple an inspiring ode which was written by Judge 
Hopkinson. The entire proceedings were marked 
by the utmost decorum. The streets and the win- 
dows and roofs of houses were crowded with specta- 
tors, but there was not an accident or the slightest 
disturbance of any kind during the day." 

Judge Hopkinson died of an apoplectic fit, after 
an illness of only a few hours. May 8, 1791, aged 
53. 

In stature he was below the medium height, and 
his features, although small, did not detract from 
an exceedingly bright and animated countenance, 
indicating mirth, benevolence, with sufficient firm- 
ness. He was noted for his classical taste and de- 
votion to science, and his collection of rare and 
valuable books formed one of the very best libra- 
ries in the country. He was of a social make, 
something of a hon vivant, a brilliant wit, and, dur- 
ing the visit of Tom Moore to this country in 1787, 
was perhaps the most intimate friend the gifted poet 
had in Philadelphia. 

"Gray's Ferry," strange to say, was the fashion- 
able resort of the pleasure-loving people of the city, 
and at a fashionable inn there, patronized by the 
elite of the town, Moore and Hopkinson spent the 
bulk of their leisure time. One can scarcely realize 



The Poet, Francis Hopkinson. 193 

that the Gray's Ferry of to-day, with its deep rail- 
way-gashes through huge hills of dry white sand, 
its puffing engines and greasy brakesmen, could 
ever have been such an attractive spot as has been 
painted by the graceful pens of the old Colonial 
poets, and indirectly by Tom Moore himself. 



HON. HUGH WILLIAMSON, LL.L). 



PEOMINENT among the gifted men of our 
early history, and particularly conspicuous in 
the Constitutional Convention which met in the Old 
State House on the 14th of May, 1787, was Dr. 
Hugh Williamson, a native of Pennsylvania, but a 
representative in the convention from North Caro- 
lina. This convention, assembled to define the limits 
of individual liberty and popular sovereignty, claim- 
ed in its membership the most brilliant men of the 
nation. Dr. Williamson was a patriot and a scholar, 
and the peer of any man who sat in that historic assem- 
blage. Of classical features, with an aquiline nose, 
soft, but most expressive deep blue eyes, a massive, 
Websterian forehead, his finely-carved head sur- 
mounted with an abundance of dark-brown hair, he 
added to these fine personal attractions the courteous 
manners of a Chesterfield, and the solid virtues of a 
high-toned Christian gentleman. Griswold charac- 
terizes him as "a most worthy and excellent man, 
of much observation and extensive attainments, and 
an undoubted patriot." He was born in West Not- 
tingham township, Chester county. Pa., December 
5, 1735, and from his very earliest childhood gave 
strong indications of marked intellectuality. In 

(191) 



f 



Hox. Hugh Williamson, LL.D. 195 

those primitive days one possessed but few of the 
advantai2;es for securing^ an education now so uni- 
formly common through the medium of our mag- 
nificent system of common schools and numerous 
well-managed normal and collegiate institutions. 

A delicate physical organization, coupled with a 
somewhat depleted exchequer, instead of dwarfing 
or crippling the ambition of young Williamson, 
made him more determined to succeed in those iite- 
ary pursuits for which he evidently had such a pro- 
nounced taste. Always thoughtful, meditative, and 
profoundly conscientious, he chose theology as his 
profession, and in a few years, after overcoming al- 
most insuperable difficulties, we find him a licentiate 
of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. But the young- 
ambassador from a higher court had studied too 
much, worked too hard, and had overtaxed his sys- 
tem so much, that, to his great regret, he found him- 
self physically unable to assume the duties of the 
pulpit. His physician demanded a cessation from 
all mental labor, and with the return of health we 
find him very closely identified with the current 
literature of the period and soon recognized as one 
of the clearest, ablest writers of the day. His va- 
rious contributions to the scientific and literary pub- 
lications brought him most conspicuously before the 
public, and the trustees of the University of Penn- 
sylvania tendered him the position of professor of 
mathematics in that institution, which he accepted 
and filled most creditably for several 3^ears. Al- 



196 Continental Sketches. 

though, his fluent, graceful, and loyal pen was not 
idle in those days of heated political discussion, he 
devoted much of his leisure time, during his connec- 
tion with the university, to the study of medicine. 
With nervous energy and a bold desire to master 
his new profession, he resigned his professorship 
in the university and availed himself of the cele- 
brated medical schools of London, Edinburgh, and 
Utrecht, at which last institution he received his 
medical degree and diploma. After making the 
Continental tour, and mingling with the literati and 
savans of Europe, with health somewhat improved, 
he returned to Philadelphia, where for several years 
he practiced his profession with very great success. 
Again, unfortunately for science, his overtaxed and 
overworked system compelled him to relinquish his 
second profession, causing him great disappointment 
and depression. He withdrew for a time from the 
excitement of pubUc life in a large city, and spent 
a year or two with a favorite sister, who married 
Daniel Nevin, Esq., who resided in what was then 
termed far-off" Western territory, the beautiful Cum- 
berland Valley of to day. Among the bold, grand 
scenery of that lovely section of our interior, he 
again recuperated his health somewhat, and spent 
many happy hours with his friends and kinsmen 
there, to whom he was greatly endeared by his 
genial, winning ways, courteous bearing, and captivat- 
ing conversational powers. At that time there 
were no railways, nor even canals, in our State, or 



Hon. Hugh Williamson, LL.D. 197 



indeed in the country ; and Dr. Williamson made 
this trip from Philadelphia to Cumberland Yalley 
in the first carriage that certainly ever was there, 
and, most probably, the first that ever crossed the 
Susquehanna river. Its arrival created quite an ex- 
citement among the yeomanry of that mountainous 
region, and hundreds flocked from a long distance 
to see the wonder of the day, a plain, substantial, 
close- covered carriage. Wearied with the mono- 
tony of country life, he re-established himself once 
more in Philadelphia, then the great commercial, in- 
tellectual, and political centre of the country. He 
employed himself mainly in literary pursuits and 
philosophical investigations, and in January, 1769, 
was appointed, with David Eittenhouse, Dr. Ewing, 
and Eev. Dr. Smith, provost of the university, on a 
committee to observe the transit of Venus, which 
occured on the 3d of June of that year, and soon 
after to observe the transit of Mercury, which took 
place November 9, 1769. His articles on the Comet 
and Climatology, in the "American Philosophical 
Transactions" of 1769 and 1770, were marked by 
great ability, and produced a most profound sensa- 
tion. 

Having received his academical education at New- 
ark, Del., he took a joint interest in the cause of 
general education and the success of the old academy 
where he had spent his early years, and, fortified 
by a strong endorsement from Gov. John Penn, 
he sailed in 1778 for the West Indies, and from 



198 Co^^TIN"ENTAL Sketches. 

thence to Europe, to solicit financial aid in behalf of 
the humble but potent school in Newark. He perse- 
vered in this effort under great disadvantages, but 
with very great success, until the autumn of 1775, 
when our Colonial difficulties with the mother-coun- 
try were inaugurated. He was the first to report 
the destruction of tea at Boston; and on that occa- 
sion boldly declared that coercive measures must 
result in a blood}^ civil war. Dr. Williamson, while 
in London, procured the letters of Hutchinson, Oliver, 
and others, and caused them to be delivered to Dr. 
Franklin, who sent them to Boston, for which Wed- 
derburne before the Privy Council stigmatized good 
old Benjamin Franklin as a " thief! " John Adams 
supposed it was David Hartly, a member of Parlia- 
ment, but friendly disposed to our country, who 
caused the important correspondence to be transmit- 
ted to Franklin. After the expose of this affair, 
Williamson, deeming discretion the better part of 
valor, suddenly left England, and sailed for Holland. 
On the day after the reception of the ncAvs of the 
Declaration of Independence, regardless of every 
personal and business consideration, he sailed for 
his native land. Unwilling to be a mere spectator, 
he earnestly yearned to be a participant in the stir- 
ring scenes then foreshadowed, and which were des- 
tined to startle and electrify the world. On his 
arrival he found the medical corps of the army was 
filled, but having occasion to visit Newbern, N". C, on 
important private business, he went at once to the 



Hon. Hugh Williamson, LL.D. 199 



residence of tlie Governor of tlie Province, and ten- 
dered his services for any position in which, he might 
be useful to his country. When the British took pos- 
session of Charleston, South Carolina, a large draft 
of military was ordered from North Carolina, for the 
defence of South Carolina, and Dr. Williamson was 
placed at the head of the medical department. His 
medical knowledge and scientific attainments emi- 
nently qualified him for this important position, and 
his gentle manners and high-toned Christian charac- 
ter exerted a most wholesome influence on his subor- 
dinates. After the battle of Camden, August 18, 
1780, which the Doctor witnessed, he requested 
General Caswell, then Governor of the Province, to 
give him a flag, that he might attend to the wants of 
the North Carolina prisoners. The General inform- 
ed him that his duties did not require him to go, 
and suggested that he send some of the regimental 
surgeons. He replied, that such of his surgeons, as 
he had seen, declined to go, afraid of the conse- 
quences ; " but," said he, " if I have lived until a flag 
that will not protect me I have outlived my country, 
and in that case have lived a day too long." He did 
go, however, and remained over two months in the 
enemy's camp, rendering good service to the sick 
of both armies, where his skill was highly appre- 
ciated. At the close of the war he served as a 
representative of Edenton, North Carolina, in the 
House of Commons. Subsequently he was elected 
by the Legislature of North Carolina to the Con- 



200 Continental Sketches. 

tinental Congress, where lie served three years, as 
long a term as the law at that time allowed. He 
was a member on that memorable occasion, Decem- 
ber 23, 1783, when Washington, at Annapolis, Md., 
tendered his commission and claimed the indul- 
gence of retiring from the public service. This was 
truly one of the most sublime scenes in our national 
history perpetuated on canvas by Trumbull, and now 
adorning the rotimda of the Capitol at Wash- 
ington. Prominent in this picture is the fine com- 
manding figure and sweet expressive covmtenance 
of our gallant young Pennsylvanian, Dr. Hugh 
Williamson, who perfectly idolized Washington. 
In 1787 he was a delegate to the convention which 
framed the Constitution of the United States. This 
convention assembled at a most critical period of 
our country's history, and consisted of fifty-five 
m embers. • It may safely be asserted that a more 
august and dignified body never assembled, before 
or since ; men selected fronuthe very front ranks of 
society, educated, refined, and, as it were, brimful 
of ardent patriotism. Our recent colonial relations 
had imparted to our worthy ancestors a certain 
courtly dignity and precise formality rarely found 
in these degenerate times. The inclined planes of 
society had not been subjected to the dead levellin g 
system of extreme social democracy. The politi- 
cians of that day were statesmen, and the public 
officials gentlemen, sans peur et sans reproche. Dr. 
Williamson was a valued member of the conven- 



Hon. Hugh Williamson, LL.D. 201 

tion, and a most zealous advocate of the new Con- 
stitution. In January, 1789, lie married Miss Maria 
Apthorp, one of the reigning belles of New York 
city, where he went to reside. Here he continued 
his literary pursuits industriously, writing on va- 
rious scientific subjects, advocating the famous New 
York canal system, actively promoting the various 
philanthropic and literary institutions coming with- 
in his sphere; and in 1812 he gave to the world his 
"History of North Carolina." 

After a long life, devoted to the best interests of 
mankind. Dr. Hugh Williamson died suddenly, in 
New York city, on the 22d of May, 1819, in the 
85th year of his age. Dr. Hosack's "Memoirs of 
Williamson," in the Transactions of the New York 
Historical Society, is a cheerful, eloquent tribute to 
one of the purest patriots and most learned men of 
the eventful times in which he lived. A Christian, 
a patriot, a scientist, and a philanthropist, his me- 
mory is very dear to many in Pennsylvania, the 
State of his nativity, and equally revered by his 
many admirers in North Carolina, the State of his 
adoption. 

9* 



JOHN DICKINSON, LL.D. 



John Dickinson^ LL D.^ Elected to the Pennsylvania 
Assembly in 1764 — His ^^ Address to the Committee 
of Correspondeyice in Barhadoes^^ — Deputy to the 
First Colonial Congress — ^^Farm,er^s Letters''^ — 
"TAe Constitutional Power of Great Britain over 
the Colonies of America^^^ (he. 

ONE of the most forcible and elegant writers of 
onr colonial history was the Hon. John 
Dickinson. As Wayne was a pronounced type of 
the bold, dashing warrior, and Franklin a model of 
human wisdom, Dickinson might be termed the great 
colonial essayist of the period, engrafting on its cur- 
rent literature in highly refined and cultivated lan- 
guage much that was calculated to create, control, 
and sway the popular mind. He was the son of 
Judge Samuel Dickinson, of Delaware, and was born 
in that State, November 13, 1732. He studied law 
in Philadelphia for several years, completing his 
course at the Temple, London. Subsequently re- 
turning to this country, he commenced the practice 
of law in Philadelphia, Avhere he met with very mark- 
ed success. He was elected to the Pennsylvania 
Assembly in 1764, where he evinced unusual capa- 

(202) 



John Dickinson, LL,D. 203 

cit J as a legistor, and on all occasions was recognized 
as a fluent, eloquent debater. Outside of legislative 
routine, lie was favorably known by liis numerous 
publications on the repeated attempts of Great Britain 
to infringe upon tbe liberties of the Colonies. His 
" Address to tbe Committee of Correspondence in 
Barbadoes," who had censured the opposition of the 
northern colonies to the Stamp Act, was an eloquent 
and dignified tribute to the moral worth and stamina 
of the colonists. He was a deputy to the first Colonial 
Congress in 1775, and the principal resolutions on 
leading questions promulgated by that body were 
the product of his prolific and graceful pen. In 
1767 he published his somewhat celebrated "Far- 
mer's Letters," which were widely circulated and 
read by all classes. They were reprinted in Lon- 
don, with a preface by Dr. Franklin, inviting the 
attention of Great Britain to the calm consideration 
of American "prejudices and errors, if there were 
such, and hoping the letters would draw forth a 
satisfactory answer, if they can be answered." They 
were subsequently, in 1769, republished in Paris. 
These letters were twelve in number, and written 
by a supposed "farmer, settled, after a variety of 
fortunes, near the banks of the river Delaware, m 
the province of Pennsylvania." They arraign the 
British Parliament for laying improper duties on 
glass, paper, &c., and present an array of facts and 
figures almost irresistibly strong, and which pro- 
duced a profound impression wherever they were read 



204 Continental Sketches. 

and examined. In 1774 tie published his "Essay 
on the Constitutional Power of Great Britain over 
the Colonies of America." The same year he was 
appointed to the first Continental Congress, and pub- 
lished, among other important State papers, "The 
Address to the Inhabitants of Quebec," "The De- 
claration to the Armies," originally adopted by Con- 
gress, setting forth the causes and the necessity of 
taking up arms; which document General Washing- 
ton directed to be published immediately upon his 
arrival at the camp before Boston, in July, 1775. 
He also executed in a masterly manner, and in the 
finished style of a classical connoisseur, the two pe- 
titions to the King, soliciting the royal interposition 
for an accommodation of differences, on just prin- 
ciples. These petitions were carried in Congress main- 
ly through the instrumentality of Mr. Dickinson, 
who was strongly in favor of a reconciliation be- 
tween the two countries, based on constitutional prin- 
ciples. He was a persistent and conscientious ad- 
vocate of this line of policy, and oftentimes tested 
severely the patience of his colleagues, the majority 
of whom thought that the era of petition had passed, 
and that of positive action should commence at once. 
Hence, in June, 1776, he openly opposed the Decla- 
ration of Independence, deeming decided action at 
that particular time premature and inexpedient. In 
this cautious position he was endorsed by many 
other members of signal ability and genuine patriot- 
ism, but their flimsy theories were roughly handled 



John Dickinson, LL.D. 205 



by the thundering eloquence and powerful arguments 
of John Adams of Massachusetts, and Richard 
Henry Lee of Virginia, who favored an immediate 
and unconditional separation from the mother coun- 
try. 

When the question came up in Congress, July 4, 
the Pennsylvania delegation, consisting of seven 
members, stood thus : Morton, Franklin, and Wil- 
son for Independence ; Willing and Humphreys 
against it ; and Dickinson and Morris, although pre- 
sent, not taking their seats. The unfortunate part 
which Mr. Dickinson took in this matter occasioned 
his recall by his constituents, who did not agree 
with him in his political views. A short time after 
the decisive step of a declaration had been made, it 
is a curious fact that John Dickinson, who had 
openly in the Congress of 1776 opposed its consum- 
mation, was the only member of that body who 
immediately took up arms to face the enemy. Not- 
withstanding his Congressional seat was filled by 
another as a sort of merited rebuke to him, his pa- 
triotic ardor was not destroyed, for early in 1777 
we find him valiantly shouldering his musket and 
serving as a "high private in the rear rank" under 
Captain Lewis, in the movements against the British, 
who had them landed at the head of Elk river. In 
1779 he was unanimously sent back to Congress, 
when he continued a zealous supporter of an aggres- 
sive policy on the part of the Government. 

The otherwise harmonious symmetry of his ac- 



206 Continental Sketches. 

knowledged statesmansliip was injured by this unfor- 
tunate episode of his life, when his judgment, lacking 
positivism, "ran the gauntlet of a file of doubts." 
On his return to Congress in 1779 he wrote his 
somewhat celebrated " Address to the States." He 
was President of Pennsylvania from November, 
1782, to October, 1785, and was succeeded in this 
office by the illustrious Dr. Franklin. 

In 1787 he was a member of the convention for 
framing the Federal Constitution, and in 1788 wrote 
his famous " Fabius " letters, eloquently advocating 
its adoption. He wrote another series over the same 
signature in 1797, on " The Pelations of the United 
States with France," which was the last production 
of his facile, ingenious, and patriotic pen. His poli- 
tical writings were published in two volumes in 
1801, and have always commanded a deservedly 
high reputation among our Colonial historiogra- 
phers. In 1792 he was an influential member of 
the convention which framed the constitution of 
Delaware. He was a man of profound learning and 
finished conversational powers, and an ardent friend 
of progressive general education. The venerable 
"Dickinson College," of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
which he founded and most liberally endowed, per- 
petuates his name and fame. In private life he was 
justly esteemed and keenly appreciated for his up- 
rightness and the purity of his morals. In 1770 he 
married Miss Mary Norris, of Fairhill, Philadelphia 
county ; and their country seat near the city was for 



John Dickinson, LL.D. 207 

many years the abode of generous and refined hos- 
pitality. John Adams dined with him in 1774, and 
notices " the beautiful prospect of the city, the river, 
and the country, fine gardens, and a very grand 
library." He also speaks of Dickinson personally 
as " a very modest man, ingenious, and very agree- 
able." Their political antagonism a few years after- 
wards, in 1776, caused Adams to change his opinion 
somewhat, for he subsequently describes Dickinson 
as " subject to hectic complaints." . . " He is a 
shadow, tall, but slender as a reed, pale as ashes. 
One would think, at first sight, that he could not 
live a month ; yet, upon more attentive inspection, 
he looks as if the springs of life were strong 
enough to last many years." 

As a specimen of the vigorous, pointed style of 
Mr. Dickinson, we subjoin the following brief ex- 
tract from an address of Congress to the several 
States, dated May 26, 1779, of which he was the 
acknowledged author : "Fill up your battalions ; be 
prepared in every part to repel the incursions of 
your enemies ; place your sev^eral quotas in the 
Continental Treasury : lend moneys for public uses ; 
sink the omissions of your respective States ; pro- 
vide effectually for expediting the conveyance of 
supplies for your armies and fleets and for your 
allies ; prevent the produce of the country from 
being monopolized ; effectually superintend the be- 
havior of public officers ; diligently promote piety, 
virtue, brotherly love, learning, frugality, and mode- 



208 Continental Sketches. 

ration ; and may you be approved before Almighty 
God worthy of those blessings we devoutly wish 
you to enjoy." Mr. Dickinson possessed great 
strength of mind and a wonderful fund of valuable 
miscellaneous knowledge, which, coupled with his 
ardent eloquence and cultivated manners, made him 
an ornament to the social circle and an important 
acquisition to our colonial legislative halls. His 
numerous essays, to which we have made brief 
reference, although not characterized by great bril- 
liancy, were positive and practical, a sort of patrio- 
tic literature demanded by the exigencies of tlie 
times, and which were eminently productive of 
much good. Unequivocal in his attachment to his 
country and her cherished institutions, his patriotic 
zeal felt no abatement when old age detached him 
from the active scenes of life and compelled him to 
seek an honorable retirement from its duties. He 
died in Wilmington, Delaware, February 15, 1808, 
at the age of seventy -six. 



HONORABLE GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. 



A Man Prominently Identified with the Material 
and Political Developments of Pennsylvania^ and 
among the Leaders in the United ^States Constitu- 
tional Convention. 

r^ OUYERNEUE MORRIS, Esq., the youngest 
VIT' son of Lewis Morris, was born at Morrisania, 
near New York City, January, 31, 1752. Although 
a native of New York State, he was very promi- 
nently and honorably identified with the material 
and political developments of Pennsylvania, resided 
in Philadelphia for many years, and was a leading 
member from the latter State in the convention 
which met to frame the Constitution of the United 
States. The distinguished financier, Robert Morris, 
was also a member of this convention, and the two 
Morrises, although intimate friends and boon com- 
panions, were of different families, Robert Morris 
being of English birth, emigrating to this country 
when a lad of thirteen years. Gouverneur Morris be- 
longed to a family of marked social distinction in 
New York, and was favored with superior educa- 
tional advantages and privileges. In 1768 he gradu- 
ated at what was then called " King's College," the 

(209) 



210 Continental Sketches. 

well-known Columbia College of to-day, and at once 
entered the law office of the eminent attorney, Wil- 
liam Smith, Esq., the historian of the province. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1771, and at the ear- 
ly age of eighteen wrote a series of newspaper finan- 
cial articles which attracted considerable attention 
and gave their youthful author no little reputation. 
In May, 1775, he was chosen a member of the Provin- 
cial Congress from Kew York, serving ably and 
zealously in the same body in subsequent years. 
At this time, being then only twenty-three years of 
age, he made an interesting report on the mode of 
issuing paper currency by the Continental Congress, 
and its leading suggestions were afterward practi- 
cally adopted. In 1776 he was a prominent mem- 
ber of a committee to draft a constitution for the 
State of !N"ew York, and was a member of Congress 
during the session of 1777-80. In October, 1777, 
he took his seat in the Continental Congress, then 
assembled in the ancient borough of York, Pa., and 
the following winter he spent at Yalley Forge, as 
one of a committee appointed to examine, in com- 
pany with the distinguished Commander-in-chief, 
into the condition of the army at that point. In 
February, 1779, he was appointed chairman of the 
committee "to consider the despatches from the 
American Commissioners abroad, and communica- 
tions from the French Ministers in the United 
States," and their able and lucid report formed the 
basis of the treaty of peace which was afterwards 



Honorable Gouverneur Morris. 211 

adopted. Young Morris was a voluminous writer, 
and a steady, hard worker. In 1779 he pubhshed 
a successful pamphlet called "Observations on the 
American Eevolution," which, like all the emanations 
from his prolific pen, attracted considerable atten- 
tion. Early in 1780 he removed to Philadelphia, 
then the recognized metropolitan centre, the abode 
of quiet elegance and munificent hospitality. Its 
wealth, then as now, was gleaned from commerce 
and manufactures, but, being less suddenly acquired 
and less generally diffused, had that honorable source 
and that stability of endurance which renders wealth 
more valuable for the respectability it imparts than 
as a means of material luxury. Mr. Morris was a 
valuable acquisition to society circles in Philadel- 
phia, but in May, a few months after his arrival, he 
was thrown from his carriage, and his leg was so 
fearfully fractured as to require its immediate am- 
putation. In July, 1781, he was appointed the col- 
league of his warm personal friend, the brilliant 
financier, Mr. Eobert Morris, and served as his as- 
sistant superintendent of finance for three and a 
half years, evincing in this position superior judg- 
ment and great tact. After the close of the Eevo- 
lution he associated himself with Eobert Morris in 
private commercial pursuits and speculations, which 
were extensive and remunerative. He also resumed 
the profession of law in Philadelphia, and soon took 
high rank as an able advocate and a successful prac- 
titioner. In 1787 he purchased from his brother, a 



212 Continental Sketches. 

lieutenant-general in the British service, the beauti- 
ful patrimonial estate at Morrisania. The same 
year he issued a strong address to the Assembly of 
Pennsylvania, taking decided ground against the pro- 
jected abolition of the Bank of North America. 
He was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the United 
States Constitutional Convention of 1787, and took 
a marked and conspicuous part in its grave discus- 
sions and deliberations. Indeed, he was one of a 
committee of five to draft the constitution ; and, Mr. 
Madison as authority, the finish and style of that 
historic instrument is in a great degree due to the 
graceful pen and logical mind of Gouverneur Morris. 
In order to perpetuate stability of government, he 
favored a Senate for life, and advocated other aggres- 
sive theories, some of which were more profound than 
practical, and were ignored in committee. From 1788 
to 1792 he resided chiefly in Paris, engaged in sell- 
ing American lands, and in other moneyed specula- 
tions ; and during these years kept a minute diary 
abounding in interesting statistics and valuable de- 
tails. In 1791 he was appointed by Washington 
secret agent of his government to settle the unfulfilled 
terms of the old treaty, and although he remained 
in London for some time, his efforts in this peculiar 
sphere were not crowned with very abundant suc- 
cess. In 1792 he was appointed minister plenipo- 
tentiary to France, and during the revolution there 
exhibited commendable prudence in his official and 
personal relations, although his sympathies were 



HONOEABLE GoUVERNEUR MORRIS. 213 

not with, tlie more democratic side. He held this 
position until October, 1794, when he was recalled 
at the request of the French Government. Grace- 
fully relinquishing his diplomatic portfolio, Mr. 
Morris travelled in Europe until the autumn of 1798, 
and while in Vienna endeavored to efiect the libera- 
tion of the Marquis Layfayette from his dreary prison 
at Olmutz. Becoming surfeited with the attractions 
of his continental tour, he returned in 1800 to his 
princely estate at Morrisania, and shortly afterwards 
was elected by the Legislature of New York to fill 
a vacancy in the United States Senate. He served 
with considerable distinction in that body until 
1803, acting then and ever after with the Federalists. 
In the contest, however, between Jefferson and Burr, 
although not a pronounced friend of either, he pre- 
ferred the former. He spent the latter years of 
his life in retirement amid his books and friends, 
dispensing a liberal hospitality, and maintaining an 
extensive correspondence with distinguished men in 
Europe and America. Occasionally he would issue 
from his quiet sylvan retreat at Morrisania to in- 
dulge his literary taste, and in response to the nu- 
merous demands for his valuable services, he de- 
livered funeral orations on Washington, Hamilton, 
and Governor George Clinton. In 1812 he deliver- 
ed an able oration before the New York Historical 
Society, and shortly afterwards an address on "the 
deliverance of Europe from the yoke of military 
despotism," the latter production attracting consider- 



214 Continental Sketches. 

able attention on account of its original and very 
peculiar views. In 1816 he delivered one of his 
characteristic orations on the occasion of his ap- 
pointment as president of the New York Historical 
Society. Gouverneur Morris was a chaste, classical 
writer and a polished speaker — indeed, he was con- 
sidered by many persons a powerful orator when 
thoroughly aroused and interested in his subject. 
His delivery was fluent, and his language choice, 
but his force was sometimes compromised by his 
florid style and extreme flights of fancy. He had a 
most commanding presence, and in person his re- 
semblance to General Washington was so close that 
he stood as a model of his form to the celebrated 
sculptor Houdon. He was one of the early and life- 
long friends of the Erie Canal, and was chairman of 
its board of commissioners from their first appoint- 
ment until near the close of his long and useful life. 
Sometimes in his official and personal relations he 
was rather arbitrary and overbearing, and never pos- 
sessed that moral equipoise and self-command so 
essential to successful statesmanship. Although a 
hon vivant, and a man of the world, there was a re- 
ligious vein in his composition which developed it- 
self on many occasions. He regarded religious 
principles as necessary to national independence and 
peace. " There must be something," he remarked in 
his declining years, "more to hope for than pleasure, 
wealth, and power; something more to fear than 
])Overty and pain; something after death, more ter- 



I 



' Honorable Gouverneur Morris. 215 

rible than death; there must he religion. When that 
hgament is torn, society is disjointed, and its mem- 
bers perish." This final testimony is the more im- 
portant, as Mr. Jefferson represented that Morris 
was not a behever in Christianity. As the latter 
gentleman was not what might be termed good theo- 
logical authority, his criticism must be accepted 
cum grano salis. 

Gouverneur Morris died at Morrisania, N. Y., No- 
vember 6, 1816, aged 64. 



BENJAMIN WEST, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



A Skillful Artist and an Unflinching Patriot — 
The First Picture Painted at the Side of an Old- 
fashioned Cradle — What Followed a Proposed Cau- 
cus hy the Religiously -disposed Quaker Elders — 
Four Years of Study in Italy ^ and the Result^ dec. 

THE townsliip of Springfield, Delaware county, 
Pennsylvania, is honored as the birthplace of 
Benjamin West. Here the great Anglo-American 
painter was born, October 10, 1738, and here for a 
score of years he rambled amid the hills and groves 
of this now beautiful suburban portion of Phila- 
delphia, quietly laying the foundation work of his 
future celebrity. In his humble country home, 
surrounded by all the drawbacks incident to our 
primitive history, with no armorial ensigns, wealthy 
patrons, or paid critics, he labored with an assiduity 
worthy his native genius, until he honestly achieved 
a world-wide reputation. He was the youngest of 
ten children of John West, who married Sarah 
Pearson, of good old Quaker stock, his ancestors 
having emigrated to this country with William 
Penn at the time of his second visit here. Many 
of his descendants are respectable, honored residents 

(216) 



Benjamin West, of Pennsylvania. 217 

of Delaware county. Altliough at an early age 
and through a long life lie basked in the sunshine 
of royal favor, having exchanged the simplicity 
of his rural home for the gorgeous drapery of 
Windsor Castle, Benjamin West never failed, when 
necessary, to enunciate his devotion to his native 
land. Whilst we yield him due homage as a skill- 
ful artist, we must also bow with the inspiration 
of gratitude at the remembrance of his unflinch- 
ing patriotism, oftentimes severely tested in a social 
crucible where his personal friends were the sworn 
enemies of his country. Flattered and lionized in 
a foreign court, whose great monarchical head was 
his most liberal friend, he never quibbled nor quail- 
ed to king or courtier on any question involving 
our national honor. 

Benjamin West was a natural-born artist, and at 
the early age of seven, when he had actually never 
seen a picture, his youthful genius was awakened 
by the sweet smile of an infant niece he was rock- 
ing in an old-fashioned cradle. In a short time, 
with red and black ink, he produced a lovely pic- 
ture of the little innocent, which astounded his 
parents, and was the marvel of the whole neighbor- 
hood. His mother, particularly, was delighted with 
this precocious sign of talent, and her admiration 
vastly encouraged the boy artist. He was sent to 
the village school, but made little progress in the 
usual elementary branches, his whole mind being 
absorbed in sketches and drawing, and his juvenile 

10 



218 Continental Sketches. 

portfolio filled with, crude pictures of birds, beasts, 
and reptiles. Some religiously-disposed Quaker el- 
ders in the vicinity held a profound caucus about the 
matter, and after conferring with the father, the lat- 
ter did all he could to repress his son's artistic ardor, 
and issued a sort of domestic pronunciamento on 
the sinfulness of his course. All in vain, however, 
for, as a family tradition relates, the next day he 
was sent out to plough. His father in a few hours 
went into the fields to encourage him in his agricul- 
tural pursuits, and was surprised and shocked to 
find the youngster completing a pokeberry etching 
of a near neighbor, which was so strikingly correct 
as to make the sedate parent emit a ghastly smile. 
" Misfortunes never come singly, but in battalions," 
and the troubles of the elder West were just begin- 
ning. Some friendly Indians taught his son how to 
prepare red and yellow colors, and he pilfered some 
of his mother's indigo, which completed all the ele- 
mentary colors of his pallet, the tail of a venerable 
family cat furnishing him hair for his brushes. The 
boy was considered incorrigible, and, as a sad com- 
promise, was permitted by his broken-hearted pa- 
rents to go to Philadelphia to pursue painting as a 
profession. At the early age of sixteen he started 
out in the broad world as the architect of his own 
fortune, and for five years read and studied, observed 
and practiced, and absorbed all the information he 
could, in the city of his early adoption. Several of 
his landscapes, executed on panels, are still pre- 



• % 



Benjamin West, of Pennsylvania. 219 

served at the Hospital in Philadelphia, where His 
great picture of " Christ Healing the Sick " is also 
on exhibition. The British Institute presented him 
with three thousand guineas for this celebrated 
work of art. The sign at the Bull's Head Tavern, 
which long hung in Strawberry Alley, was one ot 
his early productions, and was purchased some 
twenty years ago and taken to England. In 1759 
he sailed for Italy, where he spent four years in the 
studios of the great masters. 

He was rather waggish for a Quaker and very 
fond of a joke. His preceptor was engaged on a cele- 
brated picture, and during a temporary absence oJt 
a few minutes was surprised on his return to find 
a fly on a prominent part of the canvas. His sur- 
prise was increased when the fly refused to move, 
and proved to be a correct imitation of one, by his 
jolly young American pupil. He removed to Lon- 
don in 1763, where he permanently settled and 
achieved his great reputation. Two years after- 
wards he married Miss Shewell, an accomplished 
young lady of Philadelphia. His whole life was 
an eventful one, but grandly progressive. When 
he had made some considerable progress, the result 
of his Philadelphia advantages, at the early age of 
seventeen he travelled around in the villages near 
that city as a portrait painter, and on one of these 
trips painted for a country gunsmith his first his- 
torical picture, " The Death of Socrates." A year 
or two later he was painting for the first families of 



220 Continental Sketches. 

New York and Philadelphia, and it was through 
the noble generosity of some of these parties that 
he \\ras enabled to go abroad to pursue his studies. 
At Kome he was patronized by Lord Grantham, 
whose portrait he painted; became the intimate 
friend of Mugs, and, as the first American artist 
ever seen in Italy, attracted much attention. Here 
he painted his " Cimon and Iphigenia," and " An- 
gelica and Medora," and was elected a member of 
the Academies of Florence, Bologna, and Farma. 
Among his early productions at London was the 
subject of "Agrippina Landing at Brundusium 
with the Ashes of Germanicus." His theme origi- 
nated from a conversation at the table of the Arch- 
bishop of York, where he was a guest. It attract- 
ed the special attention of George III., who was 
his steady friend and patron for forty years, during 
which time he sketched or painted over 400 pic- 
tures. His celebrated picture of "The Death of 
General Wolfe," painted in the costume of the 
period, contrary to the advice of his most distin- 
guished professional compeers, effected a revolution 
in historic art. He painted a series of twenty-eight 
rehgious pictures for King George, most of which 
still adorn the walls of Windsor Castle. His most 
brilliant productions were " Christ Healing the Sick," 
"Death on the Pale Horse," and the "Battle of La 
Hague." His marked recognition by King George 
stamped his fame as an artist, and made the latter 
his munificent patron. After the battle of Brandy- 



Benjamin West, of Pennsylvania. 221 



wine, several Ministers of the court endeavored to 
create a breach between the two, representing West 
as a Whig, or, what was worse, as a rebel. 

The King, in conversation with him, endeavored 
to develop his real sentiments in relation to the colo- 
nial difficulties. He succeeded admirably, for West, 
in very strong language, stated openly and firmly 
the many wrongs his country had suffered. He 
rehearsed these with a warmth and eloquence which 
seemed to captivate his royal listener ; and the King, 
in presence of his Ministers, complimented him for 
his love of country, and his manly, fearless exhibi- 
tion of the same. At the foundation of the Eoyal 
Academy in 1768, he became a member of it, and 
succeeded the distinguished Sir Joshua Reynolds as 
its President. The honor of knighthood tendered 
him \fy King George, through the Duke of Grlou- 
cester, was respectfully declined. The tinsel and 
glitter of royalty failed to conquer strong convic- 
tions of duty — the Quaker continued true to his 
principles. 

Through his long, varied, and eminently brilliant 
professional career, Benjamin West was the gene- 
rous friend, adviser, and patron of young artists. 
He did all he could to assist them in the tortuous 
path of fame, and was always ready to consult and 
confer with and encourage youthful genius. He 
never assumed that dogmatic air of personal supe- 
riority incident to so many men who have rapidly 
acquired wealth or reputation, but was kind, per- 



222 Continental Sketches. 

suasive, sympathetic, and gentle as a little child. 
As a painter, lie is celebrated for gracefulness of 
execution and harmony of coloring. Without doubt 
he stands at the very head of American artists, and 
was intimately and most honorably identified with 
the English school in its palmiest days during the 
last century. He died calmly and sweetly, in Lon- 
don, March 10, 1820, at the age of eighty-one, and 
was buried with great pomp at St. Paul's Cathedral. 
What a life of rapid transitions and magnificent 
triumphs ! The peasant boy of Delaware county in 
the far-off colony of Pennsylvania, with his crude 
pallet and lean portfolio, developed into the favorite 
artist of the ruling monarch of England ; his fame 
the property of the world ; his life pure, spotless, 
and blameless, and his death the signal for as grand 
a funeral pageant as ever crossed the threshold ot 
Old Saint Paul's ! 



ROBERT FULTON, THE INVENTOR. 



The Trial of the Submarine or Plunging Boat in the 
Harhor of Brest — Subsequent Brilliant Achieve- 
ments^ exciting the Admiration of the Scientific 
World. 

ROBEKT FULTON, the great inventor, pro- 
found scientist, graceful artist, and skillful 
engineer, was a native of the humble village of Lit- 
tle Britain, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He was 
of Irish descent, and was born in 1765. In many re- 
spects Kobert Fulton was a most remarkable man, 
and to him is unquestionably due the credit of first 
carrying into successful practice the idea of using 
steam-power in navigation. It is less than seventy 
years since he first utilized steam for the propulsion 
of vessels, and as the result of his wonderful inven- 
tive genius the last threescore and ten years have 
witnessed a complete revolution in the commerce, 
navigation, and carrying trade of the whole world. 
This one brilliant achievement has stamped him 
with a world-wide reputation, richly merited and 
gratefully yielded. At the age of three years young 
Fulton lost his father. He received the best educa- 
tion a common country school afforded, occasionally 
straying off to the few workshops and manufactories 
of which Lancaster city at that time boasted, taking 

(223) 



224 Continental Sketches. 

the greatest interest in everything connected with 
their machinery. When he was about seventeen 
years of age he opened a studio in Philadelphia, as a 
painter of portraits and landscapes. His name ap- 
pears in the directory of Philadelphia for 1785, as 
a miniature painter, although his first six months in 
the city were really spent as an apprentice to a skill- 
ful goldsmith. His career as an artist was remark- 
ably successful, and he was patronized by the very 
elite of Philadelphia. At the age of twenty-one he 
had accumulated sufficient funds to purchase a farm 
in Washington county, in Western Pennsylvania, 
which he generously gave to his widowed mother, 
and upon which she at once located. Some wealthy 
gentlemen of culture and refinement in Philadelphia, 
attracted by his talents, advised him to visit Europe 
and place himself under the care and instruction of 
his distinguished countryman, Benjamin West, who, 
at that time, was in the zenith of his professional 
glory, and an especial favorite of George III. In 
1786 young Fulton arrived in London, and was 
most kindly received by West, under whose tuition 
he pursued the study of his favorite art for several 
years. He made brilliant progress in his new sphere, 
and secured and always retained the admiration and 
friendship of his talented preceptor. After leaving 
the studio of West he made an extended tour to 
examine the treasures of art in the various country 
residences of the English nobility. He remained 
in Devonshire two years, where he made the ac- 



Egbert Fulton. 225 

quaintance of Earl Stanhope and the Duke of 
Bridgewater, the latter the recognized founder of the 
canal system of Great Britain. It was undoubtedly 
at the suggestion of these gentlemen that Fulton 
bade adieu to the fine arts and turned his attention 
to mechanics and civil engineering. Lord Stanhope 
himself was a mechanical projector of no mean pre- 
tensions, and he gave some important ideas and sug- 
gestions to his skillful and ingenious young Ameri- 
can protege. Fulton remained eighteen months in 
Birmingham, probably in some subordinate capa- 
city in connection with the canal then being con- 
structed near that city. At Birmingham he formed 
the acquaintance of James Watt, the distinguished 
mechanician, engineer, and inventor, whose contri- 
butions to science have been so elaborate, and, 
withal, so practical. During his residence here he 
invented an improved mill for sawing marble, for 
which he received a vote of thanks and an honor- 
ary medal from the British Society for the Promo- 
tion of Arts and Commerce. To this period are 
referred his patented machines for spinning flax and 
making ropes, and the invention of an excavator 
for scooping ou.t channels, canals, and aqueducts. 

In 1793, being already familiarized with the idea of 
using steam as a propelling power for boats, he was 
associated in a project to improve inland navigation. 
In 1795 he contributed sundry essays to the London 
Morning Star^ and the succeeding year published 
his treatise on the improvement of canal navigation. 

10* 



226 Continental Sketches. 

At this same period he published a practical, sensi- 
ble letter to the Governor of his native State, point- 
ing out the manifold advantages of canals over 
turnpikes, and sent a copy of the same to General 
Washington, who courteously acknowledged Its re- 
ception and its many strong points. Having ob- 
tained a patent in England for canal improvements, 
and perhaps overestimating its practical utility, he 
went to France, determined, if possible, to introduce 
it to popular favor. In 1797 he took up his resi- 
dence in Paris, and formed an intimate acquaintance 
with the Hon. Joel Barlow, the American repre- 
sentative at the French court. The latter gentle- 
man was strongly attached to him, and he remained 
with Mr. Barlow for seven years, studying the 
modern languages and the branches of science 
more directly connected with his profession. At 
this time he invented a submarine, or plunging-boat, 
connected with which were bombs and torpedoes, 
the whole affair aggregating a fearful auxiliary for 
naval warfare, but a little too far in advance of the 
age to be fully appreciated. He invited the atten- 
tion of the French government to his invention, and 
Bonaparte, then First Consul, appointed Yolney, La 
Place, and Monge as a commission to examine its 
claims. The experiment was made in the harbor 
of Brest, in the spring of 1801. The inventor could 
descend to any depth or rise to the surface, and 
where no very strong current interfered the boat 
was quite obedient to her helm while under water. 



• ^ 



Egbert Fulton. 227 

Fulton remained in the boat, while submerged, for 
over four hours ; but its motion while in this condi- 
tion was slow and its power to stem a strong cur- 
rent was limited. The French government through 
its commissioners declined to patronize the Ameri- 
can novelty, though they spoke highly of the skill 
and ingenuity displayed by its inventor. Fulton 
realized the position he occupied, the prejudice that 
was excited against him, and the notorious jealousy 
with which French engineers looked upon all foreign 
competitors. In addition to his inventive genius 
Fulton had a full complement of lobby assurance, 
and stormed every available point in court and com- 
mittee to have his plans adopted. We verily be- 
lieve he must have overstepped the grounds of pro- 
priety with the grave Napoleon, for at a certain 
court ball the latter remarked excitedly to ex- 
Ambassador Livingston, " Deharrassez moi cle ce 
fou d^ Americain^^^ which remark, though emanating 
from a Royal source, was more pointed than pohte. 
The condemned "fou d'Americain" subsequently 
excited the admiration of the scientific world by 
his brilliant achievements, and reared a shaft of 
fame more enduring than the dynasty of the Bona- 
partes. Failing in France, Fulton accepted an in- 
vitation from the English Ministry, who also ap- 
pointed a commission to test the merits of his 
torpedo. Mr. Pitt was very friendly disposed to 
the invention, but Lord Melville was strongly op- 
posed, and condemned it as visionary and impracti- 



228 Continental Sketches. 

cable. In December, 1806, he returned to New 
York, where he was supplied with the necessary 
capital by the Hon. Eobt. Livingston, with which 
he built the celebrated "Clermont," the first steamer 
that ever navigated American waters. She soon 
made regular trips between New York and Albany, 
and although her rate of speed at first was only 
five miles an hour, this was soon increased by im- 
proved machinery. The darling object of his life 
was accomplished; steam navigation was now no 
vague theory, but an established fact, and from that 
time (1807) steamboats were multiplied on all the 
waters of the United States, from the St. Lawrence 
to the Gulf of Mexico. His success was now waft- 
ed on every breeze, and the penniless schoolboy of 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, wore a well-earned 
coronet of fame. He constructed, in 1807, a large 
boat named " The Car of Neptune," which plied 
the waters of the Hudson with increased speed, 
being a great improvement on the "Clermont." In 
1809 Fulton obtained his first patent from the 
United States, and the usual penalty of excessive liti- 
gation incident to all prominent inventors absorbed 
the next two years of his eventful life. In 1811 
he was appointed one of the commissioners to ex- 
plore the route of an inland navigation from the 
Hudson river to the Lakes. He afterwards con- 
structed ferry-boats to run between New York city 
and the New Jersey shore, a large boat for Long 
Island Sound, five for the Hudson, and several for 



Egbert Fulton. 229 

the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In 1814 Congress 
authorized the President to build one or more bat- 
teries for coast defence, and Fulton was appointed 
to superintend their construction. He commenced 
the construction of a war steamer and launched it 
within four months. It was called the " Demologos," 
afterwards named "Fulton the First." It was a 
heavy, unwieldy mass, and could only make about 
three miles an hour, but it was considered a marvel 
and a most potent engine of defence. In 1815 he 
attended the Legislature of New Jersey as a wit- 
ness, and in crossing the Hudson on his return 
caught a severe cold, which terminated his life, 
February 24, 1815, at the comparatively early age 
of fifty. He was considered by his compeers and 
the general pubhc as one of the rare men of the 
period. He possessed sohd ability, tact, pluck, pa- 
tience, and enthusiasm, and was one of the most 
popular men in the State of New York, his death 
there being recognized as a great public calamity. 
He died in the midst of his triumphs and in the 
height of his fame. In 1806 he married Harriet, 
the daughter of Walter Livingston, a relative of 
his life-long, steadfast friend, the Chancellor. 

There was something intensely prepossessing in 
the personal appearance of Eobert Fulton. His 
figure was slender, a little above the ordinary size, 
and his large, dark eyes and features of manly 
beauty rendered him an exceedingly handsome man. 
His conversational powers were vivacious and spark- 



230 Continental Sketches. 

ling, and he possessed the manners and address of a 
natural gentleman. In 1846 Congress passed an act 
appropriating $76,200 in full of the claim of Fulton 
against the United States for inventing floating 
steam batteries, and applying steam to navigation — 
a worthy recognition of the services of a distin- 
guished man of whom Pennsylvania and the coun- 
try may well feel proud. 



APPENDIX. 



234 APPENDIX. 

ACCESS. EXIT. 

1664 Robert Carr, under English Governor of New 

York 1673 

1673 Anthony Colve (under the Dutch) 1674 

1674 Sir Edmund Andross (English Governor of New 

York) 1681 

1681 William Penn, founder of the Province 1684 

1684 Governor's Council, Thomas Lloyd, President . . . 1687 

1687 Five Commissioners appointed by William Penn 1688 

1688 John Blackwell, Lieutenant-Governor 1690 

1690 President and Council 1691 

1691 Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor 1692 

1692 Benjamin Fletcher, Governor of New York 1693 

1693 William Markham, Lieutenant-Governor 1699 

1699 William Penn, again Governor, Dec. 3d 1701 

1701 Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Governor (died) 1703 

1703 Edward Shippen and Council 1704 

1704 John Evans 1709 

1709 Charles Gookin 1717 

1717 Sir William Keith 1726 

1726 Patrick Gordon 1736 

1736 James Logan, President of Council 1738 

1738 George Thomas, Lieutenant-Governor 1747 

1747 Anthony Palmer, President of Council 1748 

1748 James Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor 1754 

1754 Robert H. Morris, Lieutenant-Governor 1756 

1756 William Denny, Lieutenant-Governor 1759 

1759 James Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor 1763 

1763 John Penn (son of Richard), Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor 1771 

1771 James Hamilton, President and Council, May 6th 

till October 16th 1771 

1771 Richard Penn (brother of John), Lieutenant- 
Governor from Oct. 16 till 1773 

1773 John Penn, again Lieutenant-Governor till Sep- 
tember 1776 

1776 Thomas Wharton, Jr., Presidentof Supreme Exe- 
cutive Council 1778 

1778 Joseph Reed, President of Supreme Executive 

Council 1781 



APPENDIX. 235 

ACCESS. EXIT. 

1781 William Moore, President of Supreme Executive 

Council 1782 

1782 John Dickinson, President of Supreme Execu- 

tive Council 1785 

1785 Benjamin Franklin, President of Supreme Exe- 
cutive Council 1788 

1788 Thomas Mifflin, President of Supreme Executive 

Council 1791 



GOYERNOES UNDER THE CONSTITUTION 
OF THE STATE. 

1791 Thomas Mifflin 1799 

1799 Thomas McKean 1808 

1808 Simon Snyder 1817 

1817 William Findlay 1820 

1820 Joseph Hiester 1823 

1823 John Andrew Shulze 1829 

1829 George Wolf. 1835 

1835 Joseph Kitner 1839 

1839 David R. Porter (tirst Governor under Constitu- 
tion of 1838) 1845 

1845 Francis R. Shunk 1848 

1848 William F.Johnson.. 1852 

1852 William Bigler 1855 

1855 JamesPollock 1858 

1858 William F. Packer 1861 

1861 Andrew G. Curtin 1867 

1867 John W.Geary 1873 

1873 John F. Hartranft 1879 

Two Pennsylvanians, both Revolutionary soldiers, were 
Presidents of the Continental Congress, viz.. Gen. Thomas 
Mifflin, December, 1783, and Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Febru- 
ary, 1787. 



234 APPENDIX. 

ACCESS. EXIT, 

1664 Robert Carr, under English Governor of New 

York 1673 

1673 Anthony Col ve (under the Dutch) 1674 

1674 Sir Edmund Andross (English Governor of New 

York) 1681 

1681 William Penn, founder of the Province 1684 

1684 Governor's Council, Thomas Lloyd, President . . . 1687 

1687 Five Commissioners appointed by William Penn 1688 

1688 John Blackwell, Lieutenant-Governor 1690 

1690 President and Council 1691 

1691 Thomas Lloyd, Deputy Governor 1692 

1692 Benjamin Fletcher, Governor of New York 1693 

1693 William Markham, Lieutenant-Governor 1699 

1699 William Penn, again Governor, Dec. 3d 1701 

1701 Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Governor (died) 1703 

1703 Edward Shippen and Council 1704 

1704 John Evans 1709 

1709 Charles Gookin 1717 

1717 Sir William Keith 1726 

1726 Patrick Gordon 1736 

1736 James Logan, President of Council 1738 

1738 George Thomas, Lieutenant-Governor 1747 

1747 Anthony Palmer, President of Council 1748 

1748 James Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor 1754 

1754 Robert H. Morris, Lieutenant-Governor 1756 

1756 William Denny, Lieutenant-Governor 1759 

1759 James Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor 1763 

1763 John Penn (son of Richard), Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor 1771 

1771 James Hamilton, President and Council, May 6th 

till October 16th 1771 

1771 Richard Penn (brother of John), Lieutenant- 
Governor from Oct. 16 till 1773 

1773 John Penn, again Lieutenant-Governor till Sep- 
tember 1776 

1776 Thomas Wharton, Jr., Presidentof Supreme Exe- 
cutive Council 1778 

1778 Joseph Reed, President of Supreme Executive 

Council 1781 



APPENDIX. 235 

ACCESS. EXIT. 

1781 William Moore, President of Supreme Executive 

Council 1782 

1782 John Dickinson, President of Supreme Execu- 

tive Council 1785 

1785 Benjamin Franklin, President of Supreme Exe- 
cutive Council 1788 

1788 Thomas Mifflin, President of Supreme Executive 

Council 1791 



GOVERNOKS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION 
OF THE STATE. 

1791 Thomas Mifflin 1799 

1799 Thomas McKean 1808 

1808 Simon Snyder 1817 

1817 William Findlay 1820 

1820 Joseph Hiester 1823 

1823 John Andrew Shulze 1829 

1829 George Wolf. 1835 

1835 Joseph Ritner 1839 

1839 David R. Porter (first Governor under Constitu- 
tion of 1838) 1845 

1845 Francis R. Shunk 1848 

1848 William F. Johnson 1852 

1852 William Bigler 1855 

1855 James Pollock 1858 

1858 William F. Packer 1861 

1861 Andrew G. Curtin 1867 

1867 John W. Geary 18/3 

1873 John F. Hartranft 1879 

Two Pennsylvanians, both Revolutionary soldiers, were 
Presidents of the Continental Congress, viz.. Gen. Thomas 
Mifflin, December, 1783, and Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Febru- 
ary, 1787. 



236 APPENDIX. 

CHKONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PENN- 
SYLVANIA, 1609-1776. 



1609 Delaware Bay discovered by Captain Henry Hudson. 
1616 The Delaware river explored as far as the Schuylkill, 

by Captain Hendrickson, in the yacht " Restless." 
1618 Captain May gives his name to the Cape. 
1623 Dutch settle on the shores of the Delaware . 
1626 Dutch build a trading-house on Bile's Island, Bucks 

county . 

1630 Dutch settle at Cape May. 

1631 Captain DeVries arrived in the Delaware with two ships 

and colonists. 
1635 War between the Leuni Lennappi and the Susquehan- 

nocks. 
1638 Swedes arrived, and erected Fort Christina near the 

site of Wilmington , 

1641 Minuit, the first Swedish Governor, died . 

1642 Lutheran catechism translated into the Indian lan- 

guage by Campanius. Swedes laid the foundation 

of a capitol at Tinicum . 
1646 Church erected at Tinicum . First mention of Upland, 

now Chester. 
1648 Grant to Sir Edmund Ployden, as Governor and Earl 

Palatine . 
1651 The Dutch erect Fort Casimer. 

1655 Swedes on the Delaware subjugated by the Dutch, un- 
der Peter Stuyvesant. 
1657 The name of Fort Christina changed to Altona, and 

that of Fort Casimer to New Amstel, now New 

Castle . 
1664 New Netherlands conquered by the English, under 

Sir Robert Carr. 

1672 Dutch recovered New Netherlands. 

1673 George Fox, founder of the Quaker Society, visited the 

Colonies. 
1675 Quakers settled at Upland . 



APPENDIX. 237 

1679 First vessel launched on Lake Erie . First English 
child born in Pennsylvania . 

1681 William Penn received the charter of Pennsylvania, 

March 4th, on condition of yielding two beaver-skins 
annually . 

1682 Penn arrived at New Castle, October 27th. Visited Up- 

land, October 28th, and changed its name to Ches- 
ter. Treaty of Amity under the Elm at Shackamax- 
on, November 4th. First session of Council and 
Assembly at Chester, December 4th. First Grand 
Jury of Pennsylvania summoned to attend Chester 
courts. First English child born in Philadelphia. 

1683 First session of Council and Assembly held in Phila- 

delphia, March 10th. Meetings for worship com- 
menced at Darby, by Friends. Germantown found- 
ed . First Post-Office established in Philadelphia by 
William Penn . First sheriff of Philadelphia elected . 
Number of dwellings in Philadelphia, eighty. 

1684 Pennsburg Manor-house, Bucks county, erected for 

William Penn. Population of Pennsylvania, 7,000; 
population of Philadelphia, 2,500. 

1685 First book printed in the Middle Colonies by William 

Bradford, at Philadelphia . Court-house at Chester 
erected . 

1688 Protest against slavery by the German Friends of Ger- 
mantown . 

1692 The Province taken from Penn. First school estab- 
lished at Darby . 

1694 Penn's rights restored, August 30. 

1695 Christ Church, Philadelphia, originally founded . 

1697 Paper mill built by Bradford and the Rittenhuysens 

on the Wissahickon . 

1698 Shawuees Indians from Carolina settled on the 

Susquehanna. First Baptist and Presbyterian con- 
gregation formed in Philadelphia . 

1699 Yellow fever raged in the Province . James Logan 

came to Pennsylvania . 
1701 Penn's second visit to the Province, August, 1699, He 
remained till November, 1701. Philadelphia char- 



2S8 APPENDIX. 

. tered as a city. Edward Shippen elected first Mayor 
of Philadelphia, under the charter. Penn returned 
to England, 

1703 Separation of the three lower counties. Governor 

Andrew Hamilton died, April 20. 

1704 First Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania erected in 

Philadelphia, known as the "Old Buttonwood 
Church." 

1705 An act passed to prevent the importation of Indians as 

slaves. 
1710 French Huguenots settle on Pequea Creek, Lancaster 

county . 
1712 William Penn seized with paralysis. An act passed 

forbidding the importation ef negroes as slaves. 

1714 Conrad Weiser came to this country from Germany. 

1715 Grovernor Gookin held a council with the Indians at 

Philadelphia. First regularly organized Baptist 
Church in Delaware county. 
1718 William Penn died at Ruscombe, England, July 30th, 
at the age of 74 years. Dunkers settled about Ger- 
mantown and in Lancaster county . Hannah Penn 
for some time exercises the proprietor's prerogatives, 
through representatives. 

1720 First Iron Furnaces erected in Pennsylvania. 

1721 First Insurance Oflace opened in Philadelphia. 

1722 Irish and Scotch settlements made in Donegal and 

Paxton . 

1723 Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia. Paper 

money first issued in the Province. Act passed re- 
ducing the rate of interest from eight to six per cent. 

1726 " Log College," on Neshaminy creek, Bucks county, 

established by Rev. William Tennant. First Iron 
Works erected in Lancaster county. 

1727 First German Reformed ministers arrived in Pennsyl- 

vania. 

1728 The Carpenter's Society established, 1724 ; Bartram's 

Botanic Garden, near Gray's Ferry, commenced. 

1729 First mill built, near the site ofMercersburg, Franklin 

county. First permanent settlement in York county. 
Work commenced on the old State-house, Philadel- 



APPENDIX. 239 

phia; completed 1734. Temporary Court-house and 
Jail built near L-incaster. Duty laid on foreigners 
and Irish servants imported into the Province. 

1730 Thomas Godfrey invented the Quadrant. 

1731 The Library Compan3% of Philadelphia, founded. 

First Baptist church erected in Philadelphia. Inocu- 
lation first practiced in Pennsylvania. 

1732 Dunkers settled at Ephrata, Lancaster county. 

1733 First German Keformed church erected at German- 

town. First negroes emancipated in Pennsylvania. 
First Roman Catholic church erected in Philadel- 
phia. First Lutheran church erected in the Pro- 
vince. First classical school erected at Ephrata. 

1734 First Episcopal church in Lancaster county, erected 

at Conestoga. Silk, in small quantities, manu- 
factured in the Province. First Masonic lodge 
in Pennsylvania organized in Philadelphia, Benja- 
min Franklin, Master. 
17 5 John Penn resides in the Province from 1734 to 1735 ; 
Thomas Penn from 1732 to 1741. 

1736 Governor Gordon died in August. 

1737 Benjamin Franklin appointed Postmaster of Philadel- 

phia. 

1738 Conrad Weiser and William Parsons visit Wyo- 

ming. Benjamin West, the great American artist, 
born in Springfield township, Delaware county, Oc- 
tober 10. First Presbyterian church erected near 
the site of Mercersburg. First fire company organ- 
ized in Philadelphia. 

1739 Rev. George Whitfield arrived. Moravian settlement 

commenced at the Forks of the Delaware. 

1740 War declared against France. First Sabbath-school in 

America established at Ephrata. Lazaretto erected 
for sick immigrants at Tinicum, on the Delaware 
river. First permanent settlement at Bethlehem. 

1741 York laid out. Whitfield's church. Fourth street, 

Philadelphia, erected. Count Zindendorf arrived in 
the Province. 

1742 Rev. Henry M. Muhlenberg arrived. German Re- 

formed minister at Germantown ordained by Bishop 



240 APPENDIX. 

Nitschman. Election riot in Phiiladelphia, October 
1. Treaty with the Six Nations at Philadelphia. 

1743 First German Lutheran church in Philadelphia, St. 

Michael's, erected. Sister's house at Bethlehem 
erected. American Philosophical Society organized 
in Philadelphia ; incorporated 1780 ; building erected 
1785. 

1744 Proclamation of war against France made in Philadel- 

phia in June. 

1745 General Anthony Wayne born in Chester county. 

Lindley Murray, Grammarian, born in Lancaster 
county. Franklin stoves invented by Dr. Franklin. 

1747 First Steel furnace erected in Philadelphia by Stephen 

Paschall. 

1748 First Public Lottery sanctioned by the Legislature. 

Fort de la Presque Isle erected. 

1749 Lewis Evans published a map of the Middle Colonies, 

An Academy and Charitable school established in 
Philadelphia. It 1750 it was opened as a Latin 
school ; in 1753 it was incorporated and endowed ; in 
1755 it was chartered under the title of " The College 
Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia ;" 
and in 1799 it became the University of Pennsylvania. 
First settlement in Tuscarora valley made by Scotch- 
Irish. 

1751 Pennsylvania Hospital at Philadelphia founded 

buildings erected, 1755 to 1804. The Loganian Li- 
brary founded. 

1752 First Fire Insurance Company in the Colonies, 

" The Philadelphia Contributionship," established. 
Franklin and 'Kinnei-sley establish the identity of 
electricity and lightning. State-house bell im- 
ported from England ; re-cast in Philadelphia, 1873. 

1753 Washington's expedition to Venango ; the Forks of the 

Ohio fortified by his advice; he visits the Half King 
Tarracharison, and the Queen Alliquippa. Franklin 
appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for the British 
Colonies. French invaded Western Pennsylvania. 
Beginning of the French and Indian war. 



APPENDIX, 241 

1754 First settlemenL on the site of Pittsburgh. Fort Du 

Quesne built by the French. March of Colonial 
troops for the Ohio country, April 22. Battle of Great 
Meadows, May 28. Washington in command of the 
troops, May 30. Surrender of Fort Necessity, July 4. 

1755 Defeat of Braddock, July 9. Braddock died of wounds, 

July 13. 

1756 England declared war against France, May 17. Fort 

Granville, on the Juniata, burned by Indians, July 
30. Fort Halifax, Dauphin county, erected. Kit- 
tanning destroyed by Colonel Armstrong, September 
8. First line of stages and wagons between Philadel- 
phia and Baltimore. 

1757 First WeekU^ Post between Philadelphia and Carlisle. 

1758 The French retreat from Fort Du Quesne, Novem- 

ber 24. 

1759 First Theatre erected in Philadelphia. Company for 

Insurance on Lives (Presbyterian) established. 

1760 Products of Pennsylvania so vast as to require 8,000 

to 9,000 wagons for transportation to Philadelphia. 
Classical school established in Cumberland Valley. 
1862 (Connecticut settlers arrived at Wyoming, and are 
attacked by Indians. War with Spain declared. 
George III. proclaimed in Pennsylvania, January 21. 

1763 Peace concluded at Paris, February 10. Pontiac'swar. 

Mason and Dixon commenced running boundary 
line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Massa- 
cre of settlers in Wyoming county by Indians, Oc- 
tober 15. 

1764 Colonel Henry Boquet's expedition against the In- 

dians. Medical department of the University of 
Pennsylvania founded — the oldest medical school in 
the country. 

1765 Stamp Act passed, March 8. Robert Fulton born in 

Lancaster county. 

1766 Stamp Act repealed, March 18. 

1769 Methodism first introduced into Pennsylvania. Ameri- 
can Philosophical Society founded. 

1773 First Methodist Conference in the United States held 
in Philadelphia. First Steamboat floated on the 
11 



242 APPENDIX. 

Schuylkill by Oliver Evans. Resolutions passed in 
the Province to resist the duty on Tea, October 18. 

1774 First Continental Congress assembled in Carpenter's 

Hall, Philadelphia, September 5. Resolutions 
against the Slave Trade passed by the First Congress. 

1775 Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadel- 

phia, May 10. First Pennsylvania company that 
marched to the seat of war was a company of rifle- 
men from York, July 1. Continental money first 
issued. 

1776 Declaration of Independence adopted, July 4. Read 

from the rear of the State-house, July 8. Convention 
for forming State Constitution met in Philadelphia, 
July 15. Declaration of Independence signed, August 
2. Washington retreated across the Delaware, De- 
cember 8. 

1777 Battle of Brandywine, September 11. Congress ad- 

journed to Lancaster, September 18. Massacre at 
Paoli, September 20. British occupied Philadelphia, 
September 26. Congress assembled at Lancaster and 
adjourned to York, September 27 . Supreme Execu- 
tive Council met at Lancaster, October 1. Battle 
of Germantown, October 4. British fleet sailed up 
the Delaware, November 18. Washington retired 
to Valley Forge, December 11 . 

1778 British evacuated Philadelphia, June 18. Battle of 

the Kegs, January 7. Battle of Wyoming, July 3 
and 4. 

1782 Preliminary Treaty of Peace signed at Paris, Novem« 

ber 30. 

1783 Cessation of hostilities proclaimed, April 19. Treaty of 

Peace signed at Paris, September 3. Continental 
Army disbanded, November 3. 

1786 An Act passed appropriating the proceeds of 60,000 acres 

of land in aid of Public Schools, April 7. 

1787 Convention for framing the National Constitution met 

in Philadelphia, May 10. Continued in session until 
September 17. National Constitution adopted, Sep- 
tember 17. 



APPENDIX. 243 

1789 *' Penpsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of 
Slavery " incorporated. Convention for framing the 
new State Constitution met in Philadelphia, Novem- 
ber 24. 

1791 First " Bank of the United States " incorporated, Feb- 
ruary 25. 

1793 Washington's second inauguration took place in old 
Congress Hall, March 4. Wayne's campaign, 1793 to 
- 1795. 

1796 First Type Foundry in America established in Phila- 
delphia. General Anthony Wayne died at Presque 
Island, September 27. 
'1797 John Adams inaugurated President, March 4. 

1799 State Legislature met in Lancaster. 
/ 1800 Seat of the Federal Government removed from Phila- 
/ delphia to Washington, D. C. 

1802 An Act passed for the education of the poor, gratis. 

1804 The frigate Philadelphia gallantly burned by Decatur, 
in the harbor of Tripoli . 

1806 First Railroad in the United States built in Ridley 
township, Delaware county. 

1811 First steamboat launched at Pittsburgh. 

1812 Legislature removed to Harrisburg. Steam water- 

works at Fairmount commenced . Declaration of 
war against Great Britain, June 19. 

1813 Perry's fleet built in Erie in seventy days ; his victory, 

September 10. The American Flotilla under Lieu- 
tenant Angus, engage the British vessel Junon, 38 
guns, and Martin, 16 guns, outside Crows' Shoals, 
July 29. 

1814 Battle of Fort Erie, August 15. Sortie at Fort Erie, 

September 17. 
1816 Pittsburgh incorporated as a city. Second "Bank of 
the United States," at Philadelphia, chartered 
April 10. 

1818 First Light-house on the Great Lakes erected at 

Presque Isle; rebuilt, 1857. Lehigh Canal com- 
menced; completed 1838. 

1819 Corner-stone of the State Capitol at Harrisburg laid, 

May 31 ; main building completed, 1821 . 



r 



244 APPENDIX. 

1820 General Synod of the Lutheran Church established . 
1822 State Legislature first met in the State Capitol at Har- 
risburg. 

1824 Lafayette's second visit to Pennsylvania. American 

Sunday-school Union formed in Philadelphia. 

1825 Schuylkill Navigation Canal completed ; commenced 

1815. Historical Society of Pennsylvania established. 
1827 Paper made from straw at Meadville, by Col. William 

Magraw. 
1834 Common school system of Pennsylvania established, 

May 1. Railroad and Canal opened to Pittsburgh. 

First Homeopathic Medical school in the world 

erected at Allentown. 

1838 Convention to revise State Constitution met at Phila- 

delphia, and closed their labors, February 22. The 
amended Constitution adopted by the people at the 
next election. Buckshot war, December 4-8. 

1839 The Pennsylvania banks suspended specie payments, 

August 13. 
1844 "Native American" and Irish riot in Philadelphia; 

30 houses and 3 churches burned ; 14 persons killed, 

and 40 wounded. 
1846 First Telegraph lines erected in Pennsylvania. 
1851 Christiana riot, Lancaster county, against the attempt 

to rescue fugitive slaves, September 11. 
1854 Normal School at Philadelphia founded. 
1857 Normal School Act passed . 

1859 Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, Centre county, 

opened. Success of Col. Drake in boring for Petro- 
leum, August 29. 

1860 People of Pittsburgh refused to permit the shipment of 

ordnance from the Arsenal to Southern forts, De- 
cember 24. 

1861 Act passed to organize the Militia of the State, April 
12. Bill passed by the State Senate to define and 

punish treason, April 13. Two Pennsylvania regi- 
ments raised for the United States reported ready for 
service, April 13. Five companies of Pennsylvania 
volunteers, accompanied by regular troops from 
Carlisle, reached Washington, D. C, April 18, being 



APPENDIX. 245 

the first volunteer troops that entered the National 
Capital, under the call of President Lincoln. Act 
passed to organize the Reserve Corps of the Com- 
monwealth, May 15. Lieutenant John T. Greble, of 
Philadelphia, killed at the battle of Great Bethel, 
Va., June 10, the first Pennsylvania officer who fell 
in the war for the Union. Pennsylvania Reserve 
Corps marched to the defence of Washington, July 21. 

1862 The whole Militia force of the State called out by 

Governor Curtin, September 14, to repel invasion of 
the State. General Stuart's Confederate cavalry 
made a raid into Pennsylvania, demanded the sur- 
render of Chambersburg, destroyed the military 
stores, burned the machine-shops, depot buildings, 
etc., October 10. 

1863 Second invasion of Pennsylvania . Lee advances north 

of Chambersburg, June 16. Confederates occupied 
the town. Skirmish near Gettysburg, June 23. Con- 
federates advanced to Shippensburg, June 24 ; near 
Carlisle, June 25. Confederates occupied Gettys- 
burg, and Unionists evacuated Carlisle, June 26. 
General Meade assumed command of the Army of 
the Potomac ; Confederates occupied York ; threat- 
ened Harrisburg ; skirmish at Columbia Bridge ; 
bridge burned, June 28. Confederates shelled Car- 
lisle on the night of July 1. Battle of Gettysburg, 
July 1-3. General Reynolds killed, July 1. 

1864 Great Sanitary Fair at Logan Square, Philadelphia, 

opened June 7. Third invasion of Pennsylvania by 
the Confederates, July. Chambersburg burned, 
July 30. 

1868 Corner-stone of the new Masonic Temple in Philadel- 
phia laid June 24. James Buchanan, ex-President 
of the United States, died at Wheatland, near Lan- 
caster, June 1. Thaddeus Stevens died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, August 11; buried at Lancaster. 

1873 Convention to revise State Constitution met in Phila- 
delphia, and closed their labors, November 3. Con- 
stitution adopted, December 16, 1873. 

1876 Centennial of the Independence of the States ; Inter- 
national Exposition at Philadelphia, July 4. 



246 APPENDIX. 



TABULAR STATEMENT OF TROOPS FUR- 
NISHED BY PENNSYLVANIA DURING 
THE REBELLION. 

1861. 

Under call of the President, April 15th, 1861, 
for three months 20, 979 

<' Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer corps," ori- 
ginally intended for State service, but sent 
into the service of the General Government, 
under call of the President, of July 22, 1861, 
for three years 15, 856 

Organized under Act of Congress of July 22, 

1861, for three j^ears 93, 759 

130,594 

1862. 

Under the call of the President of July 7th, 1862, 
including 18 nine month regiments 40,383 

Organized under draft of August 4th, 1862, for 
nine months 15, 100 

Independent companies for three years 1, 358 

Recruits forwarded by Superintendents of Re- 
cruiting Service 9, 259 

Enlistments in other State organizations, and 
in the Regular Army 5, 000 

71,100 

1863. 

Organized under special authority of War De- 
partment, for three years 1, 066 

Under call of the President, June, 1863 : 

For six months 4, 484 

. For emergency 7, 062 

Recruits forwarded by Superintendents of Re- 
cruiting Service 4, 458 

Enlistments in Regular Army 934 

Ninety days militia, June, 1863 25,042 

43,046 



APPENDIX. 247 

1864. 
Re-enlistment in old organizations, for three 

years 17, 876 

Organized under special authority from War 

Department, for three years 9, 867 

Under call July 27th, for one year 16, 094 

Under call July 6th, for one hundred days. . . 7, 675 
Recruits forwarded by Superintendents of Re- 
cruiting Service 26,567 

Drafted men and substitutes 10, 651 

Recruits for Regular Army 2, 974 

91,704 

1865. 

(Recruiting for volunteers, ceased in April of 
this year), 

Under call of the President, of December 19th, 

1864, for one year 9, 645 

Recruits forwarded by Superintendents of Re- 
cruiting Service 9, 133 

Drafted men and substitutes 6, 675 

Recruits for Regular Army 387 

25,840 

Total number of men furnished 362, 284 

The above statement does not include the 25,000 Militia in 
active service in September 1862. 



^3^7=?rf 




CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Prefatory, 3 

Robert Morris, 7 

Benjamin Rush, 17 

Benjamin Franklin, 26 

John Morton, 39 

George Clymer, 51 

James Smith, 60 

George Taylor, . . ^ 69 

James Wilson, 76 

George Ross, 35 

Anthony Wayne, 94 

Arthur St. Clair, I04 

Thomas Mifflin, HO 

General William Irvine, 117 

Major-General Muhlenberg, 124 

Andrew Porter, 131 

General Joseph Reed, 138 

General John Armstrong, Jr., 146 

Generals George and John Gibson, . . . .153 
Major-General John Cadwalader, .... 160 
Captain Nicholas Biddle, . . . ' . . .168 

Thomas McKean, I75 

Francis Hopkinson, 186 

Hon. Hugh Williamson, LL.D., 194 

John Dickinson, LL.D., 202 

Hon. Gouverneur Morris, 209 

Benjamin West, 216 

Robert Fulton, 223 

Appendix, 233 



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